[ GLSA 200511-19 ] eix: Insecure temporary file creation

[GLSA]

Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Title: eix: Insecure temporary file creation (GLSA 200511-19)
Severity: normal
Exploitable: local
Date: November 22, 2005
Updated: May 22, 2006
Bug(s): #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: app-portage/eix
Vulnerable: < 0.5.0_pre2
Unaffected: >= 0.5.0_pre2
Unaffected: >= 0.3.0-r2 < 0.3.1
Architectures: 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: