CVE-2023-28144
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges through race conditions in KDAB Hotspot's performance privilege elevation script. It affects users running Hotspot 1.3.x through 1.4.1 in non-default configurations where symlink manipulation can be exploited. The vulnerability requires local access and specific configuration settings to be vulnerable.
💻 Affected Systems
- KDAB Hotspot
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Local attacker gains root privileges on the system, enabling complete system compromise, data theft, and persistence establishment.
Likely Case
Local user with limited privileges escalates to root to bypass security controls and access restricted resources.
If Mitigated
Attack fails due to default configuration or proper file permission controls preventing symlink manipulation.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires local access and race condition timing to manipulate symlinks during chown operations.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.4.2 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/KDAB/hotspot/releases
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Update to Hotspot version 1.4.2 or later. 2. Download from GitHub releases. 3. Replace existing installation with patched version.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable non-default privilege elevation
linuxRun Hotspot with default configuration that doesn't use elevate_perf_privileges.sh
Ensure Hotspot runs without performance privilege elevation features
Restrict symlink creation
linuxImplement filesystem policies to prevent symlink manipulation in Hotspot directories
chmod 700 /path/to/hotspot/directories
setfacl -m u:hotspotuser:rwx /path/to/hotspot
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Run Hotspot only with default configuration settings
- Implement strict file permission controls on Hotspot directories and scripts
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Hotspot version: if version is between 1.3.0 and 1.4.1 inclusive, and non-default privilege elevation is configured, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
hotspot --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify Hotspot version is 1.4.2 or later using version check command.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple rapid chown operations on symlinks
- Unusual privilege escalation attempts from Hotspot processes
- Symlink creation in Hotspot directories
Network Indicators:
- None - this is a local privilege escalation
SIEM Query:
process.name:hotspot AND (event.action:chown OR file.path:*symlink*)