CVE-2023-32684
In Lima, a malicious disk image could read a single file on the host filesystem as a qcow2/vmdk backing file
Published May 30, 2023
CVSS 3.1 · 2.7 Low
EPSS < 1%
KEV · Not listed
Description
Lima launches Linux virtual machines, typically on macOS, for running containerd. Prior to version 0.16.0, a virtual machine instance with a malicious disk image could read a single file on the host filesystem, even when no filesystem is mounted from the host. The official templates of Lima and the well-known third party products (Colima, Rancher Desktop, and Finch) are unlikely to be affected by this issue. To exploit this issue, the attacker has to embed the target file path (an absolute or a relative path from the instance directory) in a malicious disk image, as the qcow2 (or vmdk) backing file path string. As Lima refuses to run as the root, it is practically impossible for the attacker to read the entire host disk via `/dev/rdiskN`. Also, practically, the attacker cannot read at least the first 512 bytes (MBR) of the target file. The issue has been patched in Lima in version 0.16.0 by prohibiting using a backing file path in the VM base image.
Affected Products
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CVE record
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NVD configurations
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Red Hat packages
No data
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OpenCVE enrichment
No data
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lima-vm | lima | affected |
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No data.
No data available yet.
Remediation
Tracking
Advisories
| Source | ID | Title |
|---|---|---|
 EUVD |
EUVD-2023-1529 | Lima launches Linux virtual machines, typically on macOS, for running containerd. Prior to version 0.16.0, a virtual machine instance with a malicious disk image could read a single file on the host filesystem, even when no filesystem is mounted from the host. The official templates of Lima and the well-known third party products (Colima, Rancher Desktop, and Finch) are unlikely to be affected by this issue. To exploit this issue, the attacker has to embed the target file path (an absolute or a relative path from the instance directory) in a malicious disk image, as the qcow2 (or vmdk) backing file path string. As Lima refuses to run as the root, it is practically impossible for the attacker to read the entire host disk via `/dev/rdiskN`. Also, practically, the attacker cannot read at least the first 512 bytes (MBR) of the target file. The issue has been patched in Lima in version 0.16.0 by prohibiting using a backing file path in the VM base image. |
 Github GHSA |
GHSA-f7qw-jj9c-rpq9 | In Lima, a malicious disk image could read a single file on the host filesystem as a qcow2/vmdk backing file |
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0
Attack Vector Local
Attack Complexity High
Privileges Required None
Scope Changed
Confidentiality Impact Low
Integrity Impact None
Availability Impact None
User Interaction Required
No CVSS v3.0
No CVSS v2
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
Exploit prediction score: < 1% (0.268% probability within 30 days)
Exploitation none
Automatable no
Technical Impact partial
References
History
Jan 10, 2025 5:15 PM
Scoring metrics updated
View changes
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Subscriptions
Weaknesses
