[High] Services Running as Root - Privilege Escalation Risk

[unn-Known1]

Issue: Services Running as Root User

Severity: High
Type: Security - Privilege Escalation

Description

All services (Xvfb, VNC server, websockify, cloudflared) are started without privilege separation or dropping to a less privileged user. The script runs with root permissions.

# install.sh lines 288-310
Xvfb :99 -screen 0 1920x1080x24 &
vncserver :99 &
websockify --web=/usr/share/novnc 6080 localhost:5901 &

Impact

• If any of these services are compromised through a vulnerability, the attacker gains root access
• Violates principle of least privilege
• Any service vulnerability = complete system compromise
• No isolation between services

Suggested Fix

1. Create a dedicated user account for VNC services
2. Use sudo for necessary operations only
3. Drop privileges after binding to required ports
4. Implement AppArmor/SELinux profiles for each service
5. Run services in containers with limited capabilities

Files Affected

• install.sh (lines 288-310)