getmail mbox file race condition
| getmail-mbox-race-condition (17437) |  Medium Risk |
Description:
getmail is vulnerable to a race condition. getmail handles temporary files insecurely. A local attacker could use this vulnerability to launch a symlink attack by creating a symbolic link from a temporary file to an arbitrary mbox file, which could allow the attacker to create or overwrite files on the system with root privileges.
Consequences:
Gain Privileges
Remedy:
Upgrade to the latest version of getmail (4.2.0 or later), available from the getmail documentation Web page. See References.
For Gentoo Linux:
Upgrade to the latest version of getmail (4.2.0 or later), as listed in GLSA 200409-32. See References.
For Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (alias woody):
Upgrade to the latest getmail package (2.3.7-2 or later), as listed in DSA-553-1. See References.
For Slackware Linux:
Upgrade to the latest getmail package, as listed below. Refer to Slackware Security Announcement SSA:2004-278-01 for more information. See References.
Slackware Linux 10: getmail-4.2.0 or later
Slackware Linux -current: getmail-4.2.0 or later
For other distributions:
Contact your vendor for upgrade or patch information.
References:
- Full-Disclosure Mailing List, Sun Sep 19 2004 - 09:32:38 CDT: Local root compromise possible with getmail.
- getmail documentation Web page: getmail documentation.
- getmail Web page: Charles Cazabon's Software.
- Slackware Security Advisory Mon, 4 Oct 2004 12:52:39 -0700 (PDT): getmail (SSA:2004-278-01).
- BID-11224: Getmail Local Symbolic Link Vulnerability
- CVE-2004-0880: getmail 4.x before 4.2.0, when run as root, allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on an mbox file.
- DSA-553: getmail -- symlink vulnerability
- GLSA-200409-32: getmail: Filesystem overwrite vulnerability
Platforms Affected:
- Charles Cazabon getmail 4.x prior to 4.2.0
- Debian Debian Linux 3.0
- Gentoo Linux
Reported:
Sep 19, 2004
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