Ubuntu 17.04 USN-3304-1 Critical: Sudo File Overwrite Issue

ubuntu

May 30, 2017

Sudo could be made to overwrite files as the administrator.

Summary

Sudo could be made to overwrite files as the administrator.

Software Description:

- sudo: Provide limited super user privileges to specific users

Details:

It was discovered that Sudo did not properly parse the contents of

/proc/[pid]/stat when attempting to determine its controlling tty.

A local attacker in some configurations could possibly use this to

overwrite any file on the filesystem, bypassing intended permissions.

Topics Covered

security advisory critical file overwrite local attack ubuntu admin privileges sudo issue

Update Instructions

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

Ubuntu 17.04:
  sudo                            1.8.19p1-1ubuntu1.1
  sudo-ldap                       1.8.19p1-1ubuntu1.1

Ubuntu 16.10:
  sudo                            1.8.16-0ubuntu3.2
  sudo-ldap                       1.8.16-0ubuntu3.2

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS:
  sudo                            1.8.16-0ubuntu1.4
  sudo-ldap                       1.8.16-0ubuntu1.4

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS:
  sudo                            1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.4
  sudo-ldap                       1.8.9p5-1ubuntu1.4

In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.