CVE-2014-2524

The _rl_tropen function in util.c in GNU readline before 6.3 patch 3 allows local users to create or overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a /var/tmp/rltrace.[PID] file.

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://advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2014-0319.html
• http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-readline/2014-03/msg00057.html
• http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2014-09/msg00037.html
• http://seclists.org/oss-sec/2014/q1/579
• http://seclists.org/oss-sec/2014/q1/587
• http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2014:154
• http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2015:132
• https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1077023
• https://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2014-July/135686.html