Gentoo Portage search path privilege escalation

portage-search-path-priv-escalation (45792) The risk level is classified as HighHigh Risk

Description:

Gentoo Portage could allow a local attacker to gain elevated privileges on the system, caused by the inclusion of a working directory into the search path. By placing a malicious module in the world-writable directory and persuading an administrator to run certain packages in the same directory, a local attacker could exploit this vulnerability and execute arbitrary code on the system with root privileges.

Platforms Affected:

  • Gentoo, Linux
  • Gentoo, portage 2.1.3.10
  • Gentoo, portage 2.1.3.11
  • Gentoo, portage 2.1.4.4

Remedy:

Upgrade to the latest version of Gentoo Portage (2.1.4.5 or later), available from the Gentoo Web site. See References.

Consequences:

Gain Privileges

References:

  • Gentoo Bugzilla Bug 239560, sys-apps/portage <2.1.4.5 Insecure search path for python -c in ebuilds (CVE-2008-4394) at http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=239560.
  • Gentoo Web site, Gentoo Linux at http://www.gentoo.org/.
  • BID-31670: Gentoo 'sys-apps/portage' Search Path Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
  • CVE-2008-4394: Multiple untrusted search path vulnerabilities in Portage before 2.1.4.5 include the current working directory in the Python search path, which allows local users to execute arbitrary code via a modified Python module that is loaded by the (1) ys-apps/portage, (2) net-mail/fetchmail, (3) app-editors/leo ebuilds, and other ebuilds.
  • GLSA-200810-02: Portage: Untrusted search path local root vulnerability
  • SA32228: Gentoo Portage Insecure Python Module Search Path Security Issue

Reported:

Oct 09, 2008

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