Description
An authentication bypass flaw was found in GRUB due to the way that GRUB uses the UUID of a device to search for the configuration file that contains the password hash for the GRUB password protection feature. An attacker capable of attaching an external drive such as a USB stick containing a file system with a duplicate UUID (the same as in the "/boot/" file system) can bypass the GRUB password protection feature on UEFI systems, which enumerate removable drives before non-removable ones. This issue was introduced in a downstream patch in Red Hat's version of grub2 and does not affect the upstream package.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Extended Update Support | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Extended Update Support | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | — | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS | grub2-signed | No fix yet | — |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 9 | grub2 +15 | 1:2.06-70.el9_3.2 | RHSA-2024:0468 |
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 9.2 EUS | grub2 +15 | 1:2.06-61.el9_2.2 | RHSA-2024:0456 |
| RHEL 9.0 EUS | grub2 +15 | 1:2.06-27.el9_0.16 | RHSA-2024:0437 |
AlmaLinux
Errata ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| AlmaLinux 9 | grub2-pc +14 | 1:2.06-70.el9_3.2.alma.1 | ALSA-2024:0468 |
Amazon Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux 2023 | grub2-pc +16 | 1:2.06-61.amzn2023.0.11 | ALAS2023-2024-555 |
Oracle Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle Linux 9 | grub2-pc +12 | 1:2.06-70.0.2.el9_3.2 | ELSA-2024-0468 |
Advisories 7
- ALSA-2024:0468 Moderate: grub2 security update AlmaLinux Security Advisories · Oct 29, 2026
- RHSA-2024:0468 Red Hat Security Advisory: grub2 security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Mar 18, 2026
- RHSA-2024:0456 Red Hat Security Advisory: grub2 security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Mar 18, 2026
- RHSA-2024:0437 Red Hat Security Advisory: grub2 security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Mar 18, 2026
- ALAS2023-2024-555 Moderate: grub2 security update (Amazon Linux 2023) Amazon Linux Security Center (ALAS) · Mar 5, 2024
- WID-SEC-2024-0100 Grub: Schwachstelle ermöglicht Umgehen von Sicherheitsvorkehrungen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Jan 29, 2024
- ELSA-2024-0468 Moderate: grub2 security update (Oracle Linux 9) Oracle Linux Security Advisories (ELSA) · Jan 25, 2024
References
- RHSA-2024:0437 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2024:0456 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2024:0468 vendor-advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-4001 vdb-entry
- RHBZ#2224951 issue-tracking
- https://dfir.ru/2024/01/15/cve-2023-4001-a-vulnerability-in-the-downstream-grub-boot-manager/