Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 200809-13 - R is vulnerable to symlink attacks due to an insecure usage of temporary files. Dmitry E. Oboukhov reported that the javareconf script uses temporary files in an insecure manner. Versions less than 2.7.1 are affected.
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Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 200809-13
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http://security.gentoo.org/
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Severity: Normal
Title: R: Insecure temporary file creation
Date: September 22, 2008
Bugs: #235822
ID: 200809-13
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Synopsis
========
R is vulnerable to symlink attacks due to an insecure usage of
temporary files.
Background
==========
R is a GPL licensed implementation of S, a language and environment for
statistical computing and graphics.
Affected packages
=================
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Package / Vulnerable / Unaffected
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1 dev-lang/R < 2.7.1 >= 2.7.1
Description
===========
Dmitry E. Oboukhov reported that the "javareconf" script uses temporary
files in an insecure manner.
Impact
======
A local attacker could exploit this vulnerability to overwrite
arbitrary files with the privileges of the user running the
application.
Workaround
==========
There is no known workaround at this time.
Resolution
==========
All R users should upgrade to the latest version:
# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=dev-lang/R-2.7.1"
References
==========
[ 1 ] CVE-2008-3931
http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2008-3931
Availability
============
This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at
the Gentoo Security Website:
http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200809-13.xml
Concerns?
=========
Security is a primary focus of Gentoo Linux and ensuring the
confidentiality and security of our users machines is of utmost
importance to us. Any security concerns should be addressed to
security@gentoo.org or alternatively, you may file a bug at
http://bugs.gentoo.org.
License
=======
Copyright 2008 Gentoo Foundation, Inc; referenced text
belongs to its owner(s).
The contents of this document are licensed under the
Creative Commons - Attribution / Share Alike license.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5