GLSA 200804-08: lighttpd: Multiple vulnerabilities

http://security.gentoo.org/

Severity:	normal
Title:	lighttpd: Multiple vulnerabilities
Date:	04/10/2008
Bugs:	#212930, #214892
ID:	200804-08

Synopsis

Multiple vulnerabilities in lighttpd may lead to information disclosure or a Denial of Service.

Background

lighttpd is a lightweight high-performance web server.

Affected packages

Package	Vulnerable	Unaffected	Architecture(s)
www-servers/lighttpd	< 1.4.19-r2	>= 1.4.19-r2	All supported architectures

Description

Julien Cayzax discovered that an insecure default setting exists in mod_userdir in lighttpd. When userdir.path is not set the default value used is $HOME. It should be noted that the "nobody" user's $HOME is "/" (CVE-2008-1270). An error also exists in the SSL connection code which can be triggered when a user prematurely terminates his connection (CVE-2008-1531).

Impact

A remote attacker could exploit the first vulnerability to read arbitrary files. The second vulnerability can be exploited by a remote attacker to cause a Denial of Service by terminating a victim's SSL connection.

Workaround

As a workaround for CVE-2008-1270 you can set userdir.path to a sensible value, e.g. "public_html".

Resolution

All lighttpd users should upgrade to the latest version:

    # emerge --sync
    # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=www-servers/lighttpd-1.4.19-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-200804-08.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.