CVE-2022-42717 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting Hashicorp Packer versions prior to 2.3.1, specifically related to the recommended sudoers configuration for Vagrant on Linux hosts. The issue arises because the sudoers file, as recommended by Vagrant's documentation, includes a wildcard entry that inadvertently grants non-privileged users the ability to execute arbitrary commands with root privileges. This misconfiguration effectively bypasses intended access controls, allowing privilege escalation from a limited user account to full root access without requiring user interaction. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-284 (Improper Access Control), indicating that the sudoers configuration does not enforce the principle of least privilege. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 7.8 (high), reflecting the local attack vector (AV:L), low attack complexity (AC:L), requiring low privileges (PR:L), no user interaction (UI:N), unchanged scope (S:U), and high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H). Although no known exploits are reported in the wild, the vulnerability represents a significant risk in environments where the vulnerable sudoers configuration is deployed. The root cause is the use of a wildcard in sudoers rules that unintentionally expands the command execution scope, enabling arbitrary root command execution by any local user. This vulnerability is particularly relevant for Linux hosts running Vagrant with the insecure sudoers setup, which is common in development and testing environments where Vagrant is used to manage virtual machines and development sandboxes.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2022-42717 can be substantial, especially in development, testing, and continuous integration environments that rely on Vagrant and Packer for automation and VM provisioning. Exploitation allows local attackers to gain root privileges, potentially leading to full system compromise, unauthorized access to sensitive data, disruption of services, and lateral movement within internal networks. This could affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability of critical systems. Organizations in sectors with strict data protection regulations such as finance, healthcare, and government are at heightened risk due to the potential exposure of sensitive personal and financial data. Additionally, compromised build or deployment environments could lead to the introduction of malicious code or backdoors into production systems, amplifying the threat. The vulnerability's local attack vector means that attackers need some level of access to the host, but this is often feasible in shared environments or through other initial access vectors. The lack of user interaction requirement facilitates automated exploitation once local access is obtained. Overall, the vulnerability poses a significant risk to the security posture of European organizations using affected configurations, potentially leading to regulatory non-compliance, reputational damage, and operational disruption.

To mitigate CVE-2022-42717, European organizations should immediately review and revise their sudoers configurations related to Vagrant and Packer usage on Linux hosts. Specifically, they should: 1) Avoid using wildcards in sudoers entries that grant elevated privileges; instead, specify explicit commands and arguments allowed for execution with sudo. 2) Upgrade Hashicorp Packer to version 2.3.1 or later, where this issue has been addressed. 3) Implement strict access controls to limit which users can execute sudo commands, ensuring only trusted administrators have such privileges. 4) Employ sudoers syntax validation tools and conduct regular audits of sudoers files to detect insecure configurations. 5) Use Linux security modules such as SELinux or AppArmor to enforce additional access restrictions on processes spawned via sudo. 6) Monitor system logs for unusual sudo command executions and investigate any anomalies promptly. 7) Isolate build and development environments from production networks to contain potential compromises. 8) Educate developers and system administrators about the risks of insecure sudoers configurations and best practices for privilege management. These targeted actions go beyond generic advice by focusing on configuration hygiene, patching, monitoring, and environment segmentation tailored to this vulnerability's nature.