GLSA 200804-09: am-utils: Insecure temporary file creation

http://security.gentoo.org/

Severity:	normal
Title:	am-utils: Insecure temporary file creation
Date:	04/10/2008
Bugs:	#210158
ID:	200804-09

Synopsis

am-utils creates temporary files insecurely allowing local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack.

Background

am-utils is a collection of utilities for use with the Berkeley Automounter.

Affected packages

Package	Vulnerable	Unaffected	Architecture(s)
net-fs/am-utils	< 6.1.5	>= 6.1.5	All supported architectures

Description

Tavis Ormandy discovered that, when creating temporary files, the 'expn' utility does not check whether the file already exists.

Impact

A local attacker could exploit the vulnerability via a symlink attack to overwrite arbitrary files.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All am-utils users should upgrade to the latest version:

    # emerge --sync
    # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=net-fs/am-utils-6.1.5"

References

CVE-2008-1078

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200804-09.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.