GLSA 200511-19: eix: Insecure temporary file creation

http://security.gentoo.org/

Severity:	normal
Title:	eix: Insecure temporary file creation
Date:	11/22/2005
Bugs:	#112061
ID:	200511-19

Synopsis

eix has an insecure temporary file creation vulnerability, potentially allowing a local user to overwrite arbitrary files.

Background

eix is a small utility for searching ebuilds with indexing for fast results.

Affected packages

Package	Vulnerable	Unaffected	Architecture(s)
app-portage/eix	< 0.5.0_pre2	>= 0.5.0_pre2	All supported architectures

Description

Eric Romang discovered that eix creates a temporary file with a predictable name. eix creates a temporary file in /tmp/eix.*.sync where * is the process ID of the shell running eix.

Impact

A local attacker can watch the process list and determine the process ID of the shell running eix while the "emerge --sync" command is running, then create a link from the corresponding temporary file to a system file, which would result in the file being overwritten with the rights of the user running the application.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All eix users should upgrade to the latest version:

    # emerge --sync
    # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose app-portage/eix

References

CVE-2005-3785

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200511-19.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 https://bugs.gentoo.org.