• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

Apple addressed the seventh actively exploited zero-day

 | 

Hackers deploy DripDropper via Apache ActiveMQ flaw, patch systems to evade detection

 | 

A Scattered Spider member gets 10 years in prison

 | 

FBI: Russia-linked group Static Tundra exploit old Cisco flaw for espionage

 | 

US CERT/CC warns of flaws in Workhorse Software accounting software used by hundreds of municipalities in Wisconsin

 | 

DOJ takes action against 22-year-old running RapperBot Botnet

 | 

Google fixed Chrome flaw found by Big Sleep AI

 | 

Pharmaceutical firm Inotiv discloses ransomware attack. Qilin group claims responsibility for the hack

 | 

A hacker tied to Yemen Cyber Army gets 20 months in prison

 | 

Exploit weaponizes SAP NetWeaver bugs for full system compromise

 | 

Allianz Life security breach impacted 1.1 million customers

 | 

U.S. CISA adds Trend Micro Apex One flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

AI for Cybersecurity: Building Trust in Your Workflows

 | 

Taiwan Web Infrastructure targeted by APT UAT-7237 with custom toolset

 | 

New NFC-Driven Android Trojan PhantomCard targets Brazilian bank customers

 | 

Cisco fixed maximum-severity security flaw in Secure Firewall Management Center

 | 

'Blue Locker' Ransomware Targeting Oil & Gas Sector in Pakistan

 | 

Hackers exploit Microsoft flaw to breach Canada ’s House of Commons

 | 

Norway confirms dam intrusion by Pro-Russian hackers

 | 

Zoom patches critical Windows flaw allowing privilege escalation

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • Breaking News
  • Hacking
  • Security
  • Multiple experts released exploits for Linux local privilege escalation flaw Looney Tunables

Multiple experts released exploits for Linux local privilege escalation flaw Looney Tunables

Pierluigi Paganini October 06, 2023

Researchers published PoC exploits for CVE-2023-4911 vulnerability (aka Looney Tunables) impacting most popular Linux distributions.

The vulnerability CVE-2023-4911 (CVSS score 7.8) is a buffer overflow issue that resides in the GNU C Library’s dynamic loader ld.so while processing the GLIBC_TUNABLES environment variable. An attacker can trigger the vulnerability to execute code with elevated privileges.

“A buffer overflow was discovered in the GNU C Library’s dynamic loader ld.so while processing the GLIBC_TUNABLES environment variable. This issue could allow a local attacker to use maliciously crafted GLIBC_TUNABLES environment variables when launching binaries with SUID permission to execute code with elevated privileges.” reads the advisory.

The vulnerability, also named Looney Tunables, was disclosed last week by researchers at Qualys’ Threat Research Unit, which also published a PoC exploit. The buffer overflow affects multiple Linux distros, including Debian, Fedora, and Ubuntu.

Looney Tunables Linux flaw

The researchers highlighted the widespread nature of this vulnerability.

“We have successfully identified and exploited this vulnerability (a local privilege escalation that grants full root privileges) on the default installations of Fedora 37 and 38, Ubuntu 22.04 and 23.04, and Debian 12 and 13.” reads the post published by Qualys. “It’s likely that other distributions are similarly susceptible, although we’ve noted that Alpine Linux remains an exception due to its use of musl libc instead of glibc. This vulnerability was introduced in April 2021.”

Multiple security researchers have already developed their own proof-of-concept exploits for this flaw.

https://twitter.com/bl4sty/status/1709892681910853922

Here's my POC for CVE-2023-4911. It's a little rough, so PR's are definitely welcome 😁https://t.co/xsVyhJv4Kk pic.twitter.com/wXVxQDwtwh

— Rick de Jager (@rdjgr) October 4, 2023

“Although we are withholding our exploit code for now, the ease with which the buffer overflow can be transformed into a data-only attack implies that other research teams could soon produce and release exploits. This could put countless systems at risk, especially given the extensive use of glibc across Linux distributions.” concludes the report. “While certain distributions like Alpine Linux are exempt due to their use of musl libc instead of glibc, many popular distributions are potentially vulnerable and could be exploited in the near future.”

Below is the disclosure timeline:

  • 2023-09-04: Advisory and exploit sent to secalert@redhat.
  • 2023-09-19: Advisory and patch sent to linux-distros@openwall.
  • 2023-10-03: Coordinated Release Date (17:00 UTC).

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Linux Looney Tunables flaw)


facebook linkedin twitter

hacking news information security news IT Information Security LINUX Looney Tunables Pierluigi Paganini Security Affairs Security News

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini August 21, 2025
Apple addressed the seventh actively exploited zero-day
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini August 21, 2025
Hackers deploy DripDropper via Apache ActiveMQ flaw, patch systems to evade detection
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    Apple addressed the seventh actively exploited zero-day

    Security / August 21, 2025

    Hackers deploy DripDropper via Apache ActiveMQ flaw, patch systems to evade detection

    Malware / August 21, 2025

    A Scattered Spider member gets 10 years in prison

    Cyber Crime / August 21, 2025

    FBI: Russia-linked group Static Tundra exploit old Cisco flaw for espionage

    Intelligence / August 21, 2025

    US CERT/CC warns of flaws in Workhorse Software accounting software used by hundreds of municipalities in Wisconsin

    Security / August 21, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT