CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2012-2737

Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')

Published: Jul 22, 2012 | Modified: Apr 11, 2025
CVSS 3.x
N/A
Source:
NVD
CVSS 2.x
1.9 LOW
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
RedHat/V2
RedHat/V3
Ubuntu
MEDIUM

The user_change_icon_file_authorized_cb function in /usr/libexec/accounts-daemon in AccountsService before 0.6.22 does not properly check the UID when copying an icon file to the system cache directory, which allows local users to read arbitrary files via a race condition.

Weakness

The product contains a concurrent code sequence that requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence operating concurrently.

Affected Software

Name Vendor Start Version End Version
Accountsservice Ray_stode * 0.6.21 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.4 (including) 0.4 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.5 (including) 0.5 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6 (including) 0.6 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.1 (including) 0.6.1 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.2 (including) 0.6.2 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.3 (including) 0.6.3 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.4 (including) 0.6.4 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.5 (including) 0.6.5 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.6 (including) 0.6.6 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.7 (including) 0.6.7 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.8 (including) 0.6.8 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.9 (including) 0.6.9 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.10 (including) 0.6.10 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.11 (including) 0.6.11 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.12 (including) 0.6.12 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.13 (including) 0.6.13 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.14 (including) 0.6.14 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.15 (including) 0.6.15 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.16 (including) 0.6.16 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.17 (including) 0.6.17 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.18 (including) 0.6.18 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.19 (including) 0.6.19 (including)
Accountsservice Ray_stode 0.6.20 (including) 0.6.20 (including)
Accountsservice Ubuntu devel *
Accountsservice Ubuntu natty *
Accountsservice Ubuntu oneiric *
Accountsservice Ubuntu precise *
Accountsservice Ubuntu quantal *
Accountsservice Ubuntu upstream *

Extended Description

A race condition occurs within concurrent environments, and it is effectively a property of a code sequence. Depending on the context, a code sequence may be in the form of a function call, a small number of instructions, a series of program invocations, etc. A race condition violates these properties, which are closely related:

A race condition exists when an “interfering code sequence” can still access the shared resource, violating exclusivity. The interfering code sequence could be “trusted” or “untrusted.” A trusted interfering code sequence occurs within the product; it cannot be modified by the attacker, and it can only be invoked indirectly. An untrusted interfering code sequence can be authored directly by the attacker, and typically it is external to the vulnerable product.

Potential Mitigations

  • Minimize the usage of shared resources in order to remove as much complexity as possible from the control flow and to reduce the likelihood of unexpected conditions occurring.
  • Additionally, this will minimize the amount of synchronization necessary and may even help to reduce the likelihood of a denial of service where an attacker may be able to repeatedly trigger a critical section (CWE-400).

References