In Sudo before 1.9.12p2, the sudoedit (aka -e) feature mishandles extra arguments passed in the user-provided environment variables (SUDO_EDITOR, VISUAL, and EDITOR), allowing a local attacker to append arbitrary entries to the list of files to process. This can lead to privilege escalation. Affected versions are 1.8.0 through 1.9.12.p1. The problem exists because a user-specified editor may contain a "--" argument that defeats a protection mechanism, e.g., an EDITOR='vim -- /path/to/extra/file' value. A vulnerability was found in sudo. Exposure in how sudoedit handles user-provided environment variables leads to arbitrary file writing with privileges of the RunAs user (usually root). The prerequisite for exploitation is that the current user must be authorized by the sudoers policy to edit a file using sudoedit.
With Rapid7 live dashboards, I have a clear view of all the assets on my network, which ones can be exploited, and what I need to do in order to reduce the risk in my environment in real-time. No other tool gives us that kind of value and insight.
– Scott Cheney, Manager of Information Security, Sierra View Medical Center