CVE-2024-43378
Severity CVSS v4.0:
Pending analysis
Type:
CWE-256
Plaintext Storage of a Password
Publication date:
16/08/2024
Last modified:
19/08/2024
Description
calamares-nixos-extensions provides Calamares branding and modules for NixOS, a distribution of GNU/Linux. Users who installed NixOS through the graphical installer who used manual disk partitioning to create a setup where the system was booted via legacy BIOS rather than UEFI; some disk partitions are encrypted; but the partitions containing either `/` or `/boot` are unencrypted; have their LUKS disk encryption key file in plain text either in `/crypto_keyfile.bin`, or in a CPIO archive attached to their NixOS initrd. `nixos-install` is not affected, nor are UEFI installations, nor was the default automatic partitioning configuration on legacy BIOS systems. The problem has been fixed in calamares-nixos-extensions 0.3.17, which was included in NixOS. The current installer images for the NixOS 24.05 and unstable (24.11) channels are unaffected. The fix reached 24.05 at 2024-08-13 20:06:59 UTC, and unstable at 2024-08-15 09:00:20 UTC. Installer images downloaded before those times may be vulnerable. The best solution for affected users is probably to back up their data and do a complete reinstallation. However, the mitigation procedure in GHSA-3rvf-24q2-24ww should work solely for the case where `/` is encrypted but `/boot` is not. If `/` is unencrypted, then the `/crypto_keyfile.bin` file will need to be deleted in addition to the remediation steps in the previous advisory. This issue is a partial regression of CVE-2023-36476 / GHSA-3rvf-24q2-24ww, which was more severe as it applied to the default configuration on BIOS systems.
Impact
Base Score 3.x
7.80
Severity 3.x
HIGH
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
- https://github.com/NixOS/calamares-nixos-extensions/pull/43
- https://github.com/NixOS/calamares-nixos-extensions/security/advisories/GHSA-3rvf-24q2-24ww
- https://github.com/NixOS/calamares-nixos-extensions/security/advisories/GHSA-vfxf-gpmj-2p25
- https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/331607
- https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/334252



