Nessus: "adduser" race condition vulnerability

1. Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Package	Vulnerable versions	Unaffected versions	Architecture(s)
net-analyzer/nessus	<= 2.0.11	>= 2.0.12	All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #58014

Nessus contains a vulnerability allowing a user to perform a privilege escalation attack.

2. Impact Information

Nessus is a free and powerful network security scanner.

A race condition can occur in "nessus-adduser" if the user has not configured their TMPDIR variable.

A malicious user could exploit this bug to escalate privileges to the rights of the user running "nessus-adduser".

3. Resolution Information

There is no known workaround at this time. All users are encouraged to upgrade to the latest available version of Nessus.

All Nessus users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge sync

# emerge -pv ">=net-analyzer/nessus-2.0.12"
# emerge ">=net-analyzer/nessus-2.0.12"

4. References

Page updated August 12, 2004

Summary: This is a Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

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