GLSA 200504-12: rsnapshot: Local privilege escalation

http://security.gentoo.org/

Severity:	high
Title:	rsnapshot: Local privilege escalation
Date:	04/13/2005
Bugs:	#88681
ID:	200504-12

Synopsis

rsnapshot allows a local user to take ownership of local files, resulting in privilege escalation.

Background

rsnapshot is a filesystem snapshot utility based on rsync, allowing local and remote systems backups.

Affected packages

Package	Vulnerable	Unaffected	Architecture(s)
app-backup/rsnapshot	< 1.2.1	>= 1.2.1	All supported architectures

Description

The copy_symlink() subroutine in rsnapshot follows symlinks when changing file ownership, instead of changing the ownership of the symlink itself.

Impact

Under certain circumstances, local attackers can exploit this vulnerability to take ownership of arbitrary files, resulting in local privilege escalation.

Workaround

The copy_symlink() subroutine is not called if the cmd_cp parameter has been enabled.

Resolution

All rsnapshot users should upgrade to the latest version:

    # emerge --sync
    # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose app-backup/rsnapshot

References

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200504-12.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.