• 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

U.S. CISA adds CrushFTP, Google Chromium, and SysAid flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

U.S. CISA urges FCEB agencies to fix two Microsoft SharePoint flaws immediately and added them to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Sophos fixed two critical Sophos Firewall vulnerabilities

 | 

French Authorities confirm XSS.is admin arrested in Ukraine

 | 

Microsoft linked attacks on SharePoint flaws to China-nexus actors

 | 

Cisco confirms active exploitation of ISE and ISE-PIC flaws

 | 

SharePoint under fire: new ToolShell attacks target enterprises

 | 

CrushFTP zero-day actively exploited at least since July 18

 | 

Hardcoded credentials found in HPE Aruba Instant On Wi-Fi devices

 | 

MuddyWater deploys new DCHSpy variants amid Iran-Israel conflict

 | 

U.S. CISA urges to immediately patch Microsoft SharePoint flaw adding it to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Microsoft issues emergency patches for SharePoint zero-days exploited in "ToolShell" attacks

 | 

SharePoint zero-day CVE-2025-53770 actively exploited in the wild

 | 

Singapore warns China-linked group UNC3886 targets its critical infrastructure

 | 

U.S. CISA adds Fortinet FortiWeb flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 54

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 533 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

Radiology Associates of Richmond data breach impacts 1.4 million people

 | 

Fortinet FortiWeb flaw CVE-2025-25257 exploited hours after PoC release

 | 

Authorities released free decryptor for Phobos and 8base ransomware

 | 
  • 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
  • Hacking
  • Hacking Ubuntu Linux distro exploiting the CrashDB code injection issue

Hacking Ubuntu Linux distro exploiting the CrashDB code injection issue

Pierluigi Paganini December 16, 2016

The exploitation of the CrashDB code injection issue could allow an attacker to remotely execute arbitrary code on machines running Ubuntu Linux distro.

New problems for Ubuntu Linux distribution, the security expert Donncha O’Cearbhaill discovered a critical vulnerability that could be exploited by a remote attacker to compromise a target computer using a malicious file.

The vulnerability, a CrashDB code injection flaw, affects the Apport crash reporting tool on Ubuntu and is present in default Ubuntu Linux installations versions 12.10 (Quantal) and later. According to the expert, the vulnerable code was introduced on 2012-08-22 in Apport revision 2464 and was initially included in release 2.6.1.

According to O’Cearbhaill, the CrashDB code injection flaw could allow an attacker to remotely execute arbitrary code on a system running on vulnerable Ubuntu Linux. In order to exploit the flaw, the attacker has to trick the Ubuntu user into opening a maliciously booby-trapped crash file.

Once the victim opens the file it will inject malicious code in Ubuntu crash file handler that parses the code and executes arbitrary Python code.

“Problematically there is also code which loads the CrashDB configuration directly from the CrashDB field and not from a local file. The code first checks if the CrashDB field starts with { indicating the start of a Python dictionary. If found, Apport will call Python’s builtin eval()method with the value of the CrashDB field. eval() executes the passed data as a Python expression which leads to straight forward and reliable Python code execution.” wrote O’Cearbhaill in a blog post.

The researcher also published a proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit code on GitHub and a video PoC of the attack.

“Ubuntu ships the Apport crash handling software with all of its recent Desktop releases. This repo contains an exploit for a bug in the Apport crash report parser which can provide reliable code execution upon opening an Apport crash file. The parsing bug results in Python code injection in the Apport process. Exploiting this issue does not involve any memory corruption and it is extremely reliable.” states O’Cearbhaill.

The researcher has also shared a video demonstration, showing that it is possible to gain control over the targeted Ubuntu box system using this flaw with the help of a malicious file.

In the video the expert opened the Gnome calculator with a simple Apport crash report file.

Below and example of a minimal crash report file which exploits the CrashDB vulnerability in order to gain arbitrary code execution and launch the Gnome calculator:

ProblemType: Bug
ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/file-roller
Stacktrace:
None
CrashDB: {‘impl’: ‘memory’, ‘crash_config’: exec(“””
import subprocess
payload_cmd = “pkill -9 apport; gnome-calculator”
subprocess.Popen(payload_cmd, shell=True)
“””, {}) }

The code could be saved with the .crash extension or with any other extension that’s not registered on Ubuntu.

“Both of these issues were reported to the Apport maintainers and a fix was released on 2016-12-14. The CrashDB code injection issue can be tracked with CVE-2016-9949 and the path traversal bug with CVE-2016-9950. An additional problem where arbitrary commands can be called with the “Relaunch” action is tracked by CVE-2016-9951.” added the expert.

The researcher reported the CrashDB vulnerability to Ubuntu that promptly patched the flaw in Ubuntu. O’Cearbhaill received a $10,000 bounty.

Ubuntu Linux users have to patch their systems asap.

[adrotate banner=”9″]

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – CrashDB vulnerability, Ubuntu)


facebook linkedin twitter

CrashDB Hacking LINUX RCE Ubuntu Linux

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 24, 2025
U.S. CISA adds CrushFTP, Google Chromium, and SysAid flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 23, 2025
U.S. CISA urges FCEB agencies to fix two Microsoft SharePoint flaws immediately and added them to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

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

    recent articles

    U.S. CISA adds CrushFTP, Google Chromium, and SysAid flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

    Hacking / July 24, 2025

    U.S. CISA urges FCEB agencies to fix two Microsoft SharePoint flaws immediately and added them to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

    Hacking / July 23, 2025

    Sophos fixed two critical Sophos Firewall vulnerabilities

    Security / July 23, 2025

    French Authorities confirm XSS.is admin arrested in Ukraine

    Cyber Crime / July 23, 2025

    Microsoft linked attacks on SharePoint flaws to China-nexus actors

    APT / July 23, 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