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Red Hat 6 RHSA-2013:1270-01 Important Polkit Authorization Flaw

red hat
Calendar Grey September 19, 2013
Dist Redhat Esm H88
CentOS issues important kernel security patch (CESA-2023:1023-01) resolving privilege issues in Stream 9.
Updated polkit packages that fix one security issue are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure all previously released errata relevant to your system have been applied.

This update is available via the Red Hat Network. Details on how to use the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at https://access.redhat.com/site/articles/11258

Summary

PolicyKit is a toolkit for defining and handling authorizations.
A race condition was found in the way the PolicyKit pkcheck utility checked process authorization when the process was specified by its process ID via the --process option. A local user could use this flaw to bypass intended PolicyKit authorizations and escalate their privileges. (CVE-2013-4288)
Note: Applications that invoke pkcheck with the --process option need to be modified to use the pid,pid-start-time,uid argument for that option, to allow pkcheck to check process authorization correctly.
Red Hat would like to thank Sebastian Krahmer of the SUSE Security Team for reporting this issue.
All polkit users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain a backported patch to correct this issue. The system must be rebooted for this update to take effect.

Topics%20covered

Topics Covered

security advisory privilege escalation Red Hat Enterprise Linux security impact important update polkit authorization flaw

References

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2013-4288 https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification#important

Package List

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6):
Source:
i386: polkit-0.96-5.el6_4.i686.rpm polkit-debuginfo-0.96-5.el6_4.i686.rpm
noarch: polkit-desktop-policy-0.96-5.el6_4.noarch.rpm
x86_64: polkit-0.96-5.el6_4.i686.rpm polkit-0.96-5.el6_4.x86_64.rpm polkit-debuginfo-0.96-5.el6_4.i686.rpm polkit-debuginfo-0.96-5.el6_4.x86_64.rpm
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6):
Source:
i386: polkit-debuginfo-0.96-5.el6_4.i686.rpm polkit-devel-0.96-5.el6_4.i686.rpm polkit-docs-0.96-5.el6_4.i686.rpm
x86_64: polkit-debuginfo-0.96-5.el6_4.i686.rpm polkit-debuginfo-0.96-5.el6_4.x86_64.rpm polkit-devel-0.96-5.el6_4.i686.rpm polkit-devel-0.96-5.el6_4.x86_64.rpm polkit-docs-0.96-5.el6_4.x86_64.rpm
Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6):
Source:
x86_64: polkit-0.96-5.el6_4.i686.rpm polkit-0.96-5.el6_4.x86_64.rpm polkit-debuginfo-0.96-5.el6_4.i686.rpm polkit-debuginfo-0.96-5.el6_4.x86_64.rpm
Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6):
Source:
noarch: polkit-desktop-policy-0.96-5.el6_4.noarch.rpm
x86_64: polkit-debuginfo-0.96-5.el6_4.i686.rpm polkit-debuginfo-0.96-5.el6_4.x86_64.rpm polkit-devel-0.96-5.el6_4.i686.rpm polkit-devel-0.96-5.el6_4.x86_64.rpm polkit-docs-0.96-5.el6_4.x86_64.rpm
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6):
Source:
i386: polkit-0.96-5.el6_4.i686.rpm

Read the Full Advisory


Severity
important
Lowest
Low
Medium
High
Critical

Advisory ID: RHSA-2013:1270-01
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Advisory URL: https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013:1270.html
Issue date: 2013-09-19

Topic

Updated polkit packages that fix one security issue are now available forRed Hat Enterprise Linux 6.The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as havingimportant security impact. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS)base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available from theCVE link in the References section.

Topics%20covered

Topics Covered

security advisory privilege escalation Red Hat Enterprise Linux security impact important update polkit authorization flaw

Relevant Releases Architectures

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) - i386, noarch, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) - i386, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) - x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) - noarch, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) - i386, noarch, ppc64, s390x, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) - i386, noarch, x86_64

Bugs Fixed

1002375 - CVE-2013-4288 polkit: unix-process subject for authorization is racy

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