Overview
This blog post will explore a recent discovery of a code injection vulnerability in the Robot Operating System (ROS). This vulnerability, with the identifier CVE-2024-41148, involves the ‘rostopic’ command-line tool used in ROS distributions Noetic Ninjemys and earlier. This vulnerability is significant as it allows for the potential execution of arbitrary code, which poses serious risks, including system compromise or data leakage. As ROS is widely used in robotics research and development, this vulnerability could have a significant impact if not addressed promptly and effectively.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2024-41148
Severity: High (CVSS score 7.8)
Attack Vector: Local
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
Robot Operating System (ROS) | Noetic Ninjemys and earlier
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability lies in the ‘hz’ verb of the ‘rostopic’ command-line tool. This verb reports the publishing rate of a topic and accepts a user-provided Python expression via the –filter option. The Python expression supplied by the user is passed directly to the eval() function without any form of sanitization. This allows a local user to craft and execute arbitrary code, creating a code injection vulnerability.
Conceptual Example Code
Here is a
conceptual
example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. This is not actual exploit code, but a simplified representation to demonstrate the concept:
# User supplies a Python expression via the --filter option
./rostopic hz --filter="os.system('rm -rf /')" /topic_nameIn this example, the `os.system(‘rm -rf /’)` is an arbitrary command that gets executed due to the vulnerability. This particular command would delete all files in the system. In a real-world scenario, an attacker could craft a command that suits their specific malicious intent.
Mitigation Guidance
Users are strongly advised to apply the vendor patch once it is available. In the meantime, a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can be used as a temporary mitigation measure. These systems can help detect and prevent attempts to exploit this vulnerability.
