makewhatis from man package reported to not be vulnerable to /tmp race condition bug.. From: Thomas Biege Subject: [suse-security-announce] makewhatis bug Hi, a few days ago a /tmp race condition bug in the makewhatis program was posted on bugtraq. We are NOT vulnerable by this bug, because we use different code, which doesn't touch /tmp in a unsecure way. Bye, Thomas -- Thomas Biege, SuSE GmbH, Schanzaeckerstr. 10, 90443 Nuernberg E@mail :
The makewhatis portion of the man package used files in /tmp in an insecure fashion.. ` --------------------------------------------------------------------- Red Hat, Inc. Security Advisory Synopsis: man package's 'makewhatis' uses insecure handling of files in /tmp Advisory ID: RHSA-2000:041-02 Issue date: 2000-07-03 Updated on: 2000-07-03 Product: Red Hat Linux Keywords: man /tmp makewhatis Cross references: N/A --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Topic: The makewhatis portion of the man package used files in /tmp in an insecure fashion. It was possible for local users to exploit this vulnerability to modify files that they normally could not and gain elevated privilege. 2. Relevant releases/architectures: Red Hat Linux 5.2 - i386 alpha sparc Red Hat Linux 6.0 - alpha i386 sparc Red Hat Linux 6.1 - i386 alpha sparc Red Hat Linux 6.2 - alpha i386 sparc 3. Problem description: The makewhatis script creates files in /tmp with predictable names. By using various symlink attacks, it is possible to have the makewhatis script write to files it should not, change the permissions of various files, etc. It is recommended that users of Red Hat Linux upgrade to the fixed packages. 4. Solution: For each RPM for your particular architecture, run: rpm -Fvh [filename] where filename is the name of the RPM. 5. Bug IDs fixed ( for more info): N/A 6. RPMs required: Red Hat Linux 5.2: i386: alpha: sparc: sources: Red Hat Linux 6.2: alpha: i386: sparc: sources: 7. Verification: MD5 sum Package Name -------------------------------------------------------------------------- b3476eb017b133ad4094ab961a93451d 5.2/SRPMS/man-1.5h1-2.5.x.src.rpm 835945f5b6a55072beb7ed38af02ad97 5.2/alpha/man-1.5h1-2.5.x.alpha.rpm ee5f1fcc982be266294bbfd7f50fac53 5.2/i386/man-1.5h1-2.5.x.i386.rpm ebcdad7749c958e9df00b0c261791b25 5.2/sparc/man-1.5h1-2.5.x.sparc.rpm 14a92fdbfea1867c771d929a078dfece 6.2/SRPMS/man-1.5h1-2.6.x.src.rpm 15cc526b17fc2b10e7cbadfe1c1c7e72 6.2/alpha/man-1.5h1-2.6.x.alpha.rpm 32bed2085c2947237185e3e973f1a2ff 6.2/i386/man-1.5h1-2.6.x.i386.rpm 0b330b0cea1e7ac1af83010cf896a2d4 6.2/sparc/man-1.5h1-2.6.x.sparc.rpm These packages are GPG signed by Red Hat, Inc. for security. Our key is available at: You can verify each package with the following command: rpm --checksig If you only wish to verify that each package has not been corrupted or tampered with, examine only the md5sum with the following command: rpm --checksig --nogpg 8. References: N/A `. An advisory highlights a vulnerability in the makewhatis utility threatening Red Hat environments. Evaluate local exploit risks.. red hat linux, local exploit, makewhatis risk, privilege escalation. . Severity: Important. LinuxSecurity.com Team
Get the latest Linux and open source security news straight to your inbox.