CVE-2020-26273

sqlite ATTACH allows some filesystem access

MEDIUM
5.2
CVSS Score
Published: December 16, 2020 at 01:20 AM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 03:07 AM UTC
2 products affected across 2 vendorsOsqueryOsquery

Using osquery by osquery?

Get instant alerts when new vulnerabilities affect osquery - before attackers find them.

Real-time alertsTrack your software stackFree plan available
Severity
MEDIUM5.2
Exploit prediction
EPSS 1.0%

Description

osquery is a SQL powered operating system instrumentation, monitoring, and analytics framework. In osquery before version 4.6.0, by using sqlite's ATTACH verb, someone with administrative access to osquery can cause reads and writes to arbitrary sqlite databases on disk. This _does_ allow arbitrary files to be created, but they will be sqlite databases. It does not appear to allow existing non-sqlite files to be overwritten. This has been patched in osquery 4.6.0. There are several mitigating factors and possible workarounds. In some deployments, the people with access to these interfaces may be considered administrators. In some deployments, configuration is managed by a central tool. This tool can filter for the `ATTACH` keyword. osquery can be run as non-root user. Because this also limits the desired access levels, this requires deployment specific testing and configuration.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 4.6.0
Affected range stops below 4.6.0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
v < 4.6.0
Affected range stops below 4.6.0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

CVSS

5.2MEDIUMGitHub_M
Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
CHANGED
Confidentiality
LOW
Integrity
LOW
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-77

Get alerted

Stop reading CVE feeds looking for your own stack

Track the products you run and VulnTracker tells you when a new CVE affects them — with what is known about fixing it, and nothing about the rest.

Free plan, no card