GLSA 200810-02: Portage: Untrusted search path local root vulnerability
| Severity: | high |
| Title: | Portage: Untrusted search path local root vulnerability |
| Date: | 10/09/2008 |
| Bugs: | |
| ID: | 200810-02 |
Synopsis
A search path vulnerability in Portage allows local attackers to execute commands with root privileges if emerge is called from untrusted directories.Background
Portage is Gentoo's package manager which is responsible for installing, compiling and updating all packages on the system through the Gentoo rsync tree.
Affected packages
| Package | Vulnerable | Unaffected | Architecture(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| sys-apps/portage | < 2.1.4.5 | >= 2.1.4.5 | All supported architectures |
Description
The Gentoo Security Team discovered that several ebuilds, such as sys-apps/portage, net-mail/fetchmail or app-editors/leo execute Python code using "python -c", which includes the current working directory in Python's module search path. For several ebuild functions, Portage did not change the working directory from emerge's working directory.
Impact
A local attacker could place a specially crafted Python module in a directory (such as /tmp) and entice the root user to run commands such as "emerge sys-apps/portage" from that directory, resulting in the execution of arbitrary Python code with root privileges.
Workaround
Do not run "emerge" from untrusted working directories.
Resolution
All Portage users should upgrade to the latest version:
# cd /root
# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=sys-apps/portage-2.1.4.5"
NOTE: To upgrade to Portage 2.1.4.5 using 2.1.4.4 or prior, you must run emerge from a trusted working directory, such as "/root".
References
Availability
This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website:
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.
License
Copyright 2010 Gentoo Foundation, Inc; referenced text belongs to its owner(s). The contents of this document are licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution / Share Alike license.