phpMyAdmin < 2.5.6-rc1: possible attack against export.php

1. Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Advisory Reference	GLSA 200402-05 / phpmyadmin
Release Date	February 17, 2004
Latest Revision	February 17, 2004: 01
Impact	normal
Exploitable	remote

Package	Vulnerable versions	Unaffected versions	Architecture(s)
dev-db/phpmyadmin	<= 2.5.5_p1	>= 2.5.6_rc1	All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #40268

Synopsis

A vulnerability in phpMyAdmin which was not properly verifying user generated input could lead to a directory traversal attack.

2. Impact Information

Background

phpMyAdmin is a tool written in PHP intended to handle the administration of MySQL databased over the Web.

Description

One component of the phpMyAdmin software package (export.php) does not properly verify input that is passed to it from a remote user. Since the input is used to include other files, it is possible to launch a directory traversal attack.

Impact

Private information could be gleaned from the remote server if an attacker uses a malformed URL such as http://phpmyadmin.example.com/export.php?what=../../../[existing_file]

In this scenario, the script does not sanitize the "what" argument passed to it, allowing directory traversal attacks to take place, disclosing the contents of files if the file is readable as the web-server user.

3. Resolution Information

Workaround

The workaround is to either patch the export.php file using the referenced CVS patch or upgrade the software via Portage.

Resolution

Users are encouraged to upgrade to phpMyAdmin-2.5.6_rc1:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge sync
# emerge -pv ">=dev-db/phpmyadmin-2.5.6_rc1"
# emerge ">=dev-db/phpmyadmin-2.5.6_rc1"
# emerge clean

4. References

CVS Patch

Page updated February 17, 2004

Summary: This is a Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

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