GLSA 200510-04: Texinfo: Insecure temporary file creation

http://security.gentoo.org/

Severity:	normal
Title:	Texinfo: Insecure temporary file creation
Date:	10/05/2005
Bugs:	#106105
ID:	200510-04

Synopsis

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

Background

Texinfo is the official documentation system created by the GNU project.

Affected packages

Package	Vulnerable	Unaffected	Architecture(s)
sys-apps/texinfo	< 4.8-r1	>= 4.8-r1	All supported architectures

Description

Frank Lichtenheld has discovered that the "sort_offline()" function in texindex insecurely creates temporary files with predictable filenames.

Impact

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

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All Texinfo users should upgrade to the latest version:

    # emerge --sync
    # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=sys-apps/texinfo-4.8-r1"

References

CAN-2005-3011

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200510-04.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.