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Gentoo: policyd-weight Insecure temporary file creation Print E-mail
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Posted by Benjamin D. Thomas   
Gentoo policyd-weight uses temporary files in an insecure manner, allowing for a symlink attack.
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Gentoo Linux Security Advisory                           GLSA 200804-11
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                                            http://security.gentoo.org/
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  Severity: Normal
     Title: policyd-weight: Insecure temporary file creation
      Date: April 11, 2008
      Bugs: #214403
        ID: 200804-11

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Synopsis
========

policyd-weight uses temporary files in an insecure manner, allowing for
a symlink attack.

Background
==========

policyd-weight is a Perl policy daemon for the Postfix MTA intended to
eliminate forged envelope senders and HELOs.

Affected packages
=================

    -------------------------------------------------------------------
     Package                     /   Vulnerable   /         Unaffected
    -------------------------------------------------------------------
  1  mail-filter/policyd-weight      < 0.1.14.17          >= 0.1.14.17

Description
===========

Chris Howells reported that policyd-weight creates and uses the
"/tmp/.policyd-weight/" directory in an insecure manner.

Impact
======

A local attacker could exploit this vulnerability to delete arbitrary
files or change the ownership to the "polw" user via symlink attacks.

Workaround
==========

Set "$LOCKPATH = '/var/run/policyd-weight/'" manually in
"/etc/policyd-weight.conf".

Resolution
==========

All policyd-weight users should upgrade to the latest version:

    # emerge --sync
    # emerge --ask --oneshot -v ">=mail-filter/policyd-weight-0.1.14.17"

This version changes the default path for sockets to
"/var/run/policyd-weight", which is only writable by a privileged user.
Users need to restart policyd-weight immediately after the upgrade due
to this change.

References
==========

  [ 1 ] CVE-2008-1569
        http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2008-1569

Availability
============

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at
the Gentoo Security Website:

  http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200804-11.xml

Concerns?
=========

Security is a primary focus of Gentoo Linux and ensuring the
confidentiality and security of our users machines is of utmost
importance to us. Any security concerns should be addressed to
security@gentoo.org or alternatively, you may file a bug at
http://bugs.gentoo.org.

License
=======

Copyright 2008 Gentoo Foundation, Inc; referenced text
belongs to its owner(s).

The contents of this document are licensed under the
Creative Commons - Attribution / Share Alike license.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5
 
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