The product, when opening a file or directory, does not sufficiently account for when the name is associated with a hard link to a target that is outside of the intended control sphere. This could allow an attacker to cause the product to operate on unauthorized files.
Failure for a system to check for hard links can result in vulnerability to different types of attacks. For example, an attacker can escalate their privileges if a file used by a privileged program is replaced with a hard link to a sensitive file (e.g. /etc/passwd). When the process opens the file, the attacker can assume the privileges of that process.
| Nature | Mapping | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChildOf | Allowed | B | 59 | Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following') |
| Nature | Mapping | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MemberOf | Prohibited | C | 743 | CERT C Secure Coding Standard (2008) Chapter 10 - Input Output (FIO) |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | C | 877 | CERT C++ Secure Coding Section 09 - Input Output (FIO) |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | C | 980 | SFP Secondary Cluster: Link in Resource Name Resolution |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | C | 1404 | Comprehensive Categorization: File Handling |
| Nature | Mapping | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MemberOf | Prohibited | BS | BOSS-280 | Separation of Privilege Strategy |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | BS | BOSS-294 | Not Language-Specific Weaknesses |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | BS | BOSS-297 | Unix(os class) Weaknesses |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | BS | BOSS-319 | Read Files or Directories (impact) |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | BS | BOSS-320 | Modify Files or Directories (impact) |
| Nature | Mapping | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MemberOf | Prohibited | C | 980 | SFP Secondary Cluster: Link in Resource Name Resolution |
| Scope | Likelihood | Impact | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| ConfidentialityIntegrity | N/A | Read Files or DirectoriesModify Files or Directories | N/A |
Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.
Denying access to a file can prevent an attacker from replacing that file with a link to a sensitive file. Ensure good compartmentalization in the system to provide protected areas that can be trusted.
N/A
| Reference | Description |
|---|---|
| CVE-2001-1494 | Hard link attack, file overwrite; interesting because program checks against soft links |
| CVE-2002-0793 | Hard link and possibly symbolic link following vulnerabilities in embedded operating system allow local users to overwrite arbitrary files. |
| CVE-2003-0578 | Server creates hard links and unlinks files as root, which allows local users to gain privileges by deleting and overwriting arbitrary files. |
| CVE-1999-0783 | Operating system allows local users to conduct a denial of service by creating a hard link from a device special file to a file on an NFS file system. |
| CVE-2004-1603 | Web hosting manager follows hard links, which allows local users to read or modify arbitrary files. |
| CVE-2004-1901 | Package listing system allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a hard link attack on the lockfiles. |
| CVE-2005-0342 | The Finder in Mac OS X and earlier allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files and gain privileges by creating a hard link from the .DS_Store file to an arbitrary file. |
| CVE-2005-1111 | Hard link race condition |
| CVE-2021-21272 | "Zip Slip" vulnerability in Go-based Open Container Initiative (OCI) registries product allows writing arbitrary files outside intended directory via symbolic links or hard links in a gzipped tarball. |
| CVE-2003-1366 | setuid root tool allows attackers to read secret data by replacing a temp file with a hard link to a sensitive file |
| Ordinality | Description |
|---|---|
| Resultant | N/A |
This CWE entry is at the Variant level of abstraction, which is a preferred level of abstraction for mapping to the root causes of vulnerabilities.
Carefully read both the name and description to ensure that this mapping is an appropriate fit. Do not try to 'force' a mapping to a lower-level Base/Variant simply to comply with this preferred level of abstraction.
| Taxonomy Name | Entry ID | Fit | Entry Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| PLOVER | N/A | N/A | UNIX hard link |
| CERT C Secure Coding | FIO05-C | N/A | Identify files using multiple file attributes |
| Software Fault Patterns | SFP18 | N/A | Link in resource name resolution |
| ID | Name |
|---|