GIMPS, SETI@home, ChessBrain: Insecure installation

Security Team Contact Address

Updated November 17, 2004

1. Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Advisory Reference	GLSA 200411-26 / GIMPS,SETI@home,ChessBrain
Release Date	November 17, 2004
Latest Revision	May 22, 2006: 03
Impact	high
Exploitable	local

Package	Vulnerable versions	Unaffected versions	Architecture(s)
sci-misc/gimps	<= 23.9	>= 23.9-r1	All supported architectures
sci-misc/setiathome	<= 3.08-r3	>= 3.08-r4, revision >= 3.03-r2	All supported architectures
sci-misc/chessbrain	<= 20407	>= 20407-r1	All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #69868

Synopsis

Improper file ownership allows user-owned files to be run with root privileges by init scripts.

2. Impact Information

Background

GIMPS is a client for the distributed Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search. SETI@home is the client for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project. ChessBrain is the client for the distributed chess supercomputer.

Description

GIMPS, SETI@home and ChessBrain ebuilds install user-owned binaries and init scripts which are executed with root privileges.

Impact

This could lead to a local privilege escalation or root compromise.

3. Resolution Information

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All GIMPS users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=sci-misc/gimps-23.9-r1"

All SETI@home users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.2: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=sci-misc/setiathome-3.03-r2"

All ChessBrain users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.3: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=sci-misc/chessbrain-20407-r1"

4. References