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Ubuntu 10.10, 10.04 LTS, 9.10: USN-1117-1 Moderate PolicyKit Exploitation

ubuntu
Calendar Grey April 19, 2011
Scroller Ubuntu
Users on local machines might take advantage of the policykit-1 flaw to obtain root privileges using pkexec. Ensure your system is updated for enhanced security.
Local users could gain root access by using the pkexec tool in PolicyKit.

Summary

Local users could gain root access by using the pkexec tool in PolicyKit.

Software Description:

- policykit-1: framework for managing administrative policies and privileges

Details:

Neel Mehta discovered that PolicyKit did not correctly verify the user

making authorization requests. A local attacker could exploit this to

trick pkexec into running applications with root privileges.

Topics%20covered

Topics Covered

security advisory software update local exploit root access ubuntu policykit administrative privileges

Update Instructions

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following
package versions:

Ubuntu 10.10:
  libpolkit-backend-1-0           0.96-2ubuntu1.1

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS:
  libpolkit-backend-1-0           0.96-2ubuntu0.1

Ubuntu 9.10:
  libpolkit-backend-1-0           0.94-1ubuntu1.1

After a standard system update you need to reboot your computer to make
all the necessary changes.

References

CVE-2011-1485

Severity
important
Lowest
Low
Medium
High
Critical

April 19, 2011

Topics%20covered

Topics Covered

security advisory software update local exploit root access ubuntu policykit administrative privileges

Package Information

https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/policykit-1/0.96-2ubuntu1.1
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/policykit-1/0.96-2ubuntu0.1
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/policykit-1/0.94-1ubuntu1.1

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