GLSA 200509-17: Webmin, Usermin: Remote code execution through PAM authentication

http://security.gentoo.org/

Severity:	high
Title:	Webmin, Usermin: Remote code execution through PAM authentication
Date:	09/24/2005
Bugs:	#106705
ID:	200509-17

Synopsis

If Webmin or Usermin is configured to use full PAM conversations, it is vulnerable to the remote execution of arbitrary code with root privileges.

Background

Webmin and Usermin are web-based system administration consoles. Webmin allows an administrator to easily configure servers and other features. Usermin allows users to configure their own accounts, execute commands, and read e-mails.

Affected packages

Package	Vulnerable	Unaffected	Architecture(s)
app-admin/webmin	< 1.230	>= 1.230	All supported architectures
app-admin/usermin	< 1.160	>= 1.160	All supported architectures

Description

Keigo Yamazaki discovered that the miniserv.pl webserver, used in both Webmin and Usermin, does not properly validate authentication credentials before sending them to the PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules) authentication process. The default configuration shipped with Gentoo does not enable the "full PAM conversations" option and is therefore unaffected by this flaw.

Impact

A remote attacker could bypass the authentication process and run any command as the root user on the target server.

Workaround

Do not enable "full PAM conversations" in the Authentication options of Webmin and Usermin.

Resolution

All Webmin users should upgrade to the latest version:

    # emerge --sync
    # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=app-admin/webmin-1.230"

All Usermin users should upgrade to the latest version:


    # emerge --sync
    # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=app-admin/usermin-1.160"

References

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200509-17.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.