Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2020-15229


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.


Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a HIGH severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 8.2, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity though user interaction is required and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts limited data confidentiality, integrity (unauthorized modifications), for affected systems. Impacting 3 products from sylabs, from opensuse, from opensuse organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Reported in 2020, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.


Published

2020-10-14T19:15:13.743

Last Modified

2024-11-21T05:05:08.460

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 8.2 (HIGH)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N

  • Access Vector: NETWORK
  • Access Complexity: MEDIUM
  • Authentication: NONE
  • Confidentiality Impact: PARTIAL
  • Integrity Impact: PARTIAL
  • Availability Impact: NONE
Exploitability Score

8.6

Impact Score

4.9

Weaknesses
  • Type: Secondary
    CWE-22

Affected Vendors & Products
Type Vendor Product Version/Range Vulnerable?
Application sylabs singularity ≤ 3.6.3 Yes
Application opensuse backports_sle 15.0 Yes
Operating System opensuse leap 15.1 Yes
Operating System opensuse leap 15.2 Yes

References

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For sylabs's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.