Vulnerabilities
Misconfiguration
Compliance
CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2011-1920

Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')

Published: May 23, 2011 | Modified: Apr 11, 2025
CVSS 3.x
N/A
Source:
NVD
CVSS 2.x
3.3 LOW
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P
RedHat/V2
1.9 LOW
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N
RedHat/V3
Ubuntu
LOW
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Additional information
NVDhttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2011-1920
CWEhttps://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/59.html

The make include files in NetBSD before 1.6.2, as used in pmake 1.111 and other products, allow local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a /tmp/_depend##### temporary file, related to (1) bsd.lib.mk and (2) bsd.prog.mk.

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

NameVendorStart VersionEnd Version
NetbsdNetbsd**
NetbsdNetbsd*1.6.1 (including)
NetbsdNetbsd1.0 (including)1.0 (including)
NetbsdNetbsd1.1 (including)1.1 (including)
NetbsdNetbsd1.2 (including)1.2 (including)
NetbsdNetbsd1.2.1 (including)1.2.1 (including)
NetbsdNetbsd1.3 (including)1.3 (including)
NetbsdNetbsd1.3.1 (including)1.3.1 (including)
NetbsdNetbsd1.3.2 (including)1.3.2 (including)
NetbsdNetbsd1.3.3 (including)1.3.3 (including)
NetbsdNetbsd1.4 (including)1.4 (including)
NetbsdNetbsd1.4.1 (including)1.4.1 (including)
NetbsdNetbsd1.4.2 (including)1.4.2 (including)
NetbsdNetbsd1.4.3 (including)1.4.3 (including)
NetbsdNetbsd1.5 (including)1.5 (including)
NetbsdNetbsd1.5.1 (including)1.5.1 (including)
NetbsdNetbsd1.5.2 (including)1.5.2 (including)
NetbsdNetbsd1.5.3 (including)1.5.3 (including)
NetbsdNetbsd1.6 (including)1.6 (including)
PmakeUbuntuhardy*
PmakeUbuntulucid*
PmakeUbuntumaverick*
PmakeUbuntunatty*
PmakeUbuntuupstream*

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.

References

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