GLSA 200412-04: Perl: Insecure temporary file creation

http://security.gentoo.org/

Severity:	normal
Title:	Perl: Insecure temporary file creation
Date:	12/07/2004
Bugs:	#66360
ID:	200412-04

Synopsis

Perl is vulnerable to symlink attacks, potentially allowing a local user to overwrite arbitrary files.

Background

Perl is a stable, cross-platform programming language created by Larry Wall.

Affected packages

Package	Vulnerable	Unaffected	Architecture(s)
dev-lang/perl	< 5.8.5-r2	>= 5.8.5-r2	All supported architectures

Description

Some Perl modules create temporary files in world-writable directories with predictable names.

Impact

A local attacker could create symbolic links in the temporary files directory, pointing to a valid file somewhere on the filesystem. When a Perl script is executed, this would result in the file being overwritten with the rights of the user running the utility, which could be the root user.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All Perl users should upgrade to the latest version:

    # emerge --sync
    # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=perl-5.8.5-r2"

References

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200412-04.xml

Concerns?

Security is a primary focus of Gentoo Linux and ensuring the confidentiality and security of our users machines is of utmost importance to us. Any security concerns should be addressed to security@gentoo.org or alternatively, you may file a bug at https://bugs.gentoo.org.