Gentoo Archives: gentoo-announce

From: Kurt Lieber <klieber@g.o>
To: gentoo-announce@l.g.o
Cc: bugtraq@×××××××××××××.com, full-disclosure@××××××××××××.com, security-alerts@×××××××××××××.com
Subject: [gentoo-announce] [ GLSA 200404-08 ] GNU Automake symbolic link vulnerability
Date: Thu, 08 Apr 2004 14:14:58
Message-Id: 20040408141306.GO16487@mail.lieber.org
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2 Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 200404-08
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4 http://security.gentoo.org
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7 Severity: High
8 Title: GNU Automake symbolic link vulnerability
9
10 Date: April 08, 2004
11 Bugs: #45646
12 ID: 200404-08
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15
16 Synopsis
17 ========
18
19 Automake may be vulnerable to a symbolic link attack which may allow an
20 attacker to modify data or elevate their privileges.
21
22 Background
23 ==========
24
25 Automake is a tool for automatically generating `Makefile.in' files
26 which is often used in conjuction with Autoconf and other GNU Autotools
27 to ease portability among applications. It also provides a standardized
28 and light way of writing complex Makefiles through the use of many
29 built-in macros.
30
31 Affected packages
32 =================
33
34 -------------------------------------------------------------------
35 Package / Vulnerable / Unaffected
36 -------------------------------------------------------------------
37 sys-devel/automake < 1.8.3 >= 1.8.3
38
39 Description
40 ===========
41
42 Automake may be vulnerable to a symbolic link attack which may allow an
43 attacker to modify data or escalate their privileges. This is due to
44 the insecure way Automake creates directories during compilation. An
45 attacker may be able to create symbolic links in the place of files
46 contained in the affected directories, which may potentially lead to
47 elevated privileges due to modification of data.
48
49 Impact
50 ======
51
52 An attacker may be able to use this vulnerability to modify data in an
53 unauthorized fashion or elevate their privileges.
54
55 Workaround
56 ==========
57
58 A workaround is not currently known for this issue. All users are
59 advised to upgrade to the latest version of the affected package.
60
61 Resolution
62 ==========
63
64 Automake users should upgrade to version 1.8.3 or later:
65
66 # emerge sync
67
68 # emerge -pv ">=sys-devel/automake-1.8.3"
69 # emerge ">=sys-devel/automake-1.8.3"
70
71 Concerns?
72 =========
73
74 Security is a primary focus of Gentoo Linux and ensuring the
75 confidentiality and security of our users machines is of utmost
76 importance to us. Any security concerns should be addressed to
77 security@g.o or alternatively, you may file a bug at
78 http://bugs.gentoo.org.