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Critical Advisory: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Mod_WSGI Privilege Escalation

red hat
Calendar Grey August 25, 2014
Scroller Redhat
To bolster security on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, it's essential to upgrade mod_wsgi to fix privilege escalation vulnerabilities. Follow these steps to upgrade safely
An updated mod_wsgi package that fixes one security issue is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

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/articles/11258

Summary

The mod_wsgi adapter is an Apache module that provides a WSGI-compliant interface for hosting Python-based web applications within Apache.
It was found that mod_wsgi did not properly drop privileges if the call to setuid() failed. If mod_wsgi was set up to allow unprivileged users to run WSGI applications, a local user able to run a WSGI application could possibly use this flaw to escalate their privileges on the system. (CVE-2014-0240)
Note: mod_wsgi is not intended to provide privilege separation for WSGI applications. Systems relying on mod_wsgi to limit or sandbox the privileges of mod_wsgi applications should migrate to a different solution with proper privilege separation.
Red Hat would like to thank Graham Dumpleton for reporting this issue. Upstream acknowledges Róbert Kisteleki as the original reporter.
All mod_wsgi users are advised to upgrade to this updated package, which contains a backported patch to correct this issue.

Topics%20covered

Topics Covered

security advisory red hat privilege escalation important security impact mod_wsgi

References

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2014-0240 https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#important

Package List

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7):
Source: mod_wsgi-3.4-12.el7_0.src.rpm
x86_64: mod_wsgi-3.4-12.el7_0.x86_64.rpm mod_wsgi-debuginfo-3.4-12.el7_0.x86_64.rpm
Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7):
Source: mod_wsgi-3.4-12.el7_0.src.rpm
x86_64: mod_wsgi-3.4-12.el7_0.x86_64.rpm mod_wsgi-debuginfo-3.4-12.el7_0.x86_64.rpm
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7):
Source: mod_wsgi-3.4-12.el7_0.src.rpm
ppc64: mod_wsgi-3.4-12.el7_0.ppc64.rpm mod_wsgi-debuginfo-3.4-12.el7_0.ppc64.rpm
s390x: mod_wsgi-3.4-12.el7_0.s390x.rpm mod_wsgi-debuginfo-3.4-12.el7_0.s390x.rpm
x86_64: mod_wsgi-3.4-12.el7_0.x86_64.rpm mod_wsgi-debuginfo-3.4-12.el7_0.x86_64.rpm
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7):
Source: mod_wsgi-3.4-12.el7_0.src.rpm
x86_64: mod_wsgi-3.4-12.el7_0.x86_64.rpm mod_wsgi-debuginfo-3.4-12.el7_0.x86_64.rpm
These packages are GPG signed by Red Hat for security. Our key and details on how to verify the signature are available from https://access.redhat.com/security/team/key/#package


Severity
important
Lowest
Low
Medium
High
Critical

Advisory ID: RHSA-2014:1091-01
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Advisory URL: https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014:1091.html
Issue date: 2014-08-25

Topic

An updated mod_wsgi package that fixes one security issue is now availablefor Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.Red Hat Product Security has rated this update as having Important securityimpact. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base score, whichgives a detailed severity rating, is available from the CVE link in theReferences section.

Topics%20covered

Topics Covered

security advisory red hat privilege escalation important security impact mod_wsgi

Relevant Releases Architectures

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) - x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) - x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) - ppc64, s390x, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) - x86_64

Bugs Fixed

1101863 - CVE-2014-0240 mod_wsgi: possible privilege escalation in setuid() failure scenarios

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