CVE-2008-4939

apertium 3.0.7 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on (a) /tmp/#####.lex.cc, (b) /tmp/#####.deformat.l, (c) /tmp/#####.reformat.l, (d) /tmp/#####docxorig, (e) /tmp/#####docxsalida.zip, (f) /tmp/#####xlsxembed, (g) /tmp/#####xlsxorig, and (h) /tmp/#####xslxsalida.zip temporary files, related to the (1) apertium-gen-deformat, (2) apertium-gen-reformat, and (3) apertium scripts.

Weakness

The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.

Affected Software

Potential Mitigations

• Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.
• Denying access to a file can prevent an attacker from replacing that file with a link to a sensitive file. Ensure good compartmentalization in the system to provide protected areas that can be trusted.

Related Attack Patterns

• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/132.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/17.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/35.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/76.html

References

• http://bugs.debian.org/496395
• http://dev.gentoo.org/~rbu/security/debiantemp/apertium
• http://uvw.ru/report.lenny.txt
• http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2008/10/30/2
• http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/30896
• https://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=235770
• https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/44854