XEmacs and GNU Emacs vcdiff utility symlink
| xemacs-gnuemacs-vcdiff-symlink (41906) |  Medium Risk |
Description:
XEmacs and GNU Emacs could allow a local attacker to launch a symlink attack. The vcdiff utility uses a predictable temporary file insecurely. A local attacker could exploit this vulnerability by creating a symbolic link from the temporary file to other files on the system, which would allow the attacker to overwrite arbitrary files on the system with elevated privileges.
Platforms Affected:
- Canonical, Ubuntu 6.06 LTS
- Canonical, Ubuntu 7.04
- Canonical, Ubuntu 7.10
- Canonical, Ubuntu 8.04 LTS
- GNU, emacs 21.4a
- GNU, emacs 22.2
- MandrakeSoft, Mandrake Linux 2007.1
- MandrakeSoft, Mandrake Linux 2007.1 X86_64
- MandrakeSoft, Mandrake Linux 2008.0
- MandrakeSoft, Mandrake Linux 2008.0 X86_64
- MandrakeSoft, Mandrake Linux 2008.1
- MandrakeSoft, Mandrake Linux 2008.1 X86_64
- MandrakeSoft, Mandrake Linux Corporate Server 3.0
- MandrakeSoft, Mandrake Linux Corporate Server 3.0 X86_64
- MandrakeSoft, Mandrake Linux Corporate Server 4.0 X86_64
- MandrakeSoft, Mandrake Linux Corporate Server 4.0
- XEmacs, XEmacs 21.1.10
Remedy:
For GNU Emacs:
Apply the fix, available from the GNU Emacs CVS Repository. See References.
For other distributions:
Apply the appropriate update for your system. See References.
Consequences:
File Manipulation
References:
- GNU Emacs CVS Repository, emacs - CVS Repositories at http://savannah.gnu.org/cvs/?group=emacs.
- GNU Web site, Index of ftp.gnu.org/gnu/emacs at http://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/emacs/.
- Red Hat Bugzilla Bug 208483, CVE-2008-1694 emacs insecure /tmp file usage at https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=208483.
- XEmacs Web site, XEmacs: The next generation of Emacs at http://www.xemacs.org/.
- BID-28857: GNU Emacs Insecure Temporary File Creation Vulnerability
- CVE-2008-1694: vcdiff in Emacs 20.7 to 22.1.50, when used with SCCS, allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on temporary files.
- FrSIRT/ADV-2008-1309: GNU Emacs vcdiff Insecure Temporary File Creation Vulnerability
- FrSIRT/ADV-2008-1310: XEmacs vcdiff Script Insecure Temporary File Creation Vulnerability
- MDVSA-2008:096: Updated emacs packages fix vulnerability in vcdiff
- SA29905: GNU Emacs vcdiff Insecure Temporary Files
- SA29926: XEmacs vcdiff Insecure Temporary Files
- SECTRACK ID: 1019909: GNU Emacs vcdiff Unsafe Temporary File Lets Local Users Gain Elevated Privileges
- USN-607-1: Emacs vulnerabilities
Reported:
Apr 08, 2008
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