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Gentoo Linux Security Advisory                           GLSA 200903-24
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                                            http://security.gentoo.org/
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  Severity: High
     Title: Shadow: Privilege escalation
      Date: March 10, 2009
      Bugs: #251320
        ID: 200903-24

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Synopsis
========

An insecure temporary file usage in Shadow may allow local users to
gain root privileges.

Background
==========

Shadow is a set of tools to deal with user accounts.

Affected packages
=================

    -------------------------------------------------------------------
     Package          /  Vulnerable  /                      Unaffected
    -------------------------------------------------------------------
  1  sys-apps/shadow      < 4.1.2.2                         >= 4.1.2.2

Description
===========

Paul Szabo reported a race condition in the "login" executable when
setting up tty permissions.

Impact
======

A local attacker belonging to the "utmp" group could use symlink
attacks to overwrite arbitrary files and possibly gain root privileges.

Workaround
==========

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution
==========

All Shadow users should upgrade to the latest version:

    # emerge --sync
    # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=sys-apps/shadow-4.1.2.2"

References
==========

  [ 1 ] CVE-2008-5394
        http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2008-5394

Availability
============

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at
the Gentoo Security Website:

  http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200903-24.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 2009 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