[ GLSA 200504-12 ] rsnapshot: Local privilege escalation

[GLSA]

Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Title: rsnapshot: Local privilege escalation (GLSA 200504-12)
Severity: high
Exploitable: local
Date: April 13, 2005
Updated: December 30, 2007
Bug(s): #88681
ID: 200504-12

Synopsis

rsnapshot allows a local user to take ownership of local files, resulting in privilege escalation.

Background

rsnapshot is a filesystem snapshot utility based on rsync, allowing local and remote systems backups.

Affected Packages

Package: app-backup/rsnapshot
Vulnerable: < 1.2.1
Unaffected: >= 1.2.1
Unaffected: >= 1.1.7 < 1.1.8
Architectures: All supported architectures


Description

The copy_symlink() subroutine in rsnapshot follows symlinks when changing file ownership, instead of changing the ownership of the symlink itself.

Impact

Under certain circumstances, local attackers can exploit this vulnerability to take ownership of arbitrary files, resulting in local privilege escalation.

Workaround

The copy_symlink() subroutine is not called if the cmd_cp parameter has been enabled.

Resolution

All rsnapshot users should upgrade to the latest version: