Security
Security
Automake may be vulnerable to a symbolic link attack which may allow an attacker to modify data or elevate their privileges.
| Package | sys-devel/automake on all architectures |
|---|---|
| Affected versions | <= 1.8.5-r2 |
| Unaffected versions | >= 1.8.5-r3 revision >= 1.7.9-r1 < 1.7 |
Automake is a tool for automatically generating `Makefile.in' files which is often used in conjuction with Autoconf and other GNU Autotools to ease portability among applications. It also provides a standardized and light way of writing complex Makefiles through the use of many built-in macros.
Automake may be vulnerable to a symbolic link attack which may allow an attacker to modify data or escalate their privileges. This is due to the insecure way Automake creates directories during compilation. An attacker may be able to create symbolic links in the place of files contained in the affected directories, which may potentially lead to elevated privileges due to modification of data.
An attacker may be able to use this vulnerability to modify data in an unauthorized fashion or elevate their privileges.
A workaround is not currently known for this issue. All users are advised to upgrade to the latest version of the affected package.
Automake users should upgrade to the latest versions:
# emerge --sync # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose sys-devel/automake
Release date
April 08, 2004
Latest revision
January 31, 2005: 05
Severity
normal
Exploitable
local
Bugzilla entries