CVE-2020-15229 - CVE House
Back to Database
Status published High CVE-2020-15229

Path traversal and files overwrite with unsquashfs

Vulnerability Description

Singularity (an open source container platform) from version 3.1.1 through 3.6.3 has a vulnerability. Due to insecure handling of path traversal and the lack of path sanitization within `unsquashfs`, it is possible to overwrite/create any files on the host filesystem during the extraction with a crafted squashfs filesystem. The extraction occurs automatically for unprivileged (either installation or with `allow setuid = no`) run of Singularity when a user attempt to run an image which is a local SIF image or a single file containing a squashfs filesystem and is coming from remote sources `library://` or `shub://`. Image build is also impacted in a more serious way as it can be used by a root user, allowing an attacker to overwrite/create files leading to a system compromise, so far bootstrap methods `library`, `shub` and `localimage` are triggering the squashfs extraction. This issue is addressed in Singularity 3.6.4. All users are advised to upgrade to 3.6.4 especially if they use Singularity mainly for building image as root user. There is no solid workaround except to temporary avoid to use unprivileged mode with single file images in favor of sandbox images instead. Regarding image build, temporary avoid to build from `library` and `shub` sources and as much as possible use `--fakeroot` or a VM for that.

Impact Analysis

Refer to official advisory for detailed impact metrics.

Remediation

Ensure systems are updated to the latest vendor-supplied patch levels.

THREAT MONITOR

Am I Vulnerable?

Launch our assessment wizard to check if your infrastructure is exposed to • CVE-2020-15229

Credits & Attribution

No credits recorded in the NVD database.

Affected Vendor

Affected Software

singularity
Vulnerable Versions:
< 3.6.4

Timeline

Official Publish: October 14th, 2020
Last Modified: August 4th, 2024
Added to House: July 21st, 2026

CVSS Vectors

V3: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:N

Weaknesses (CWE)