eix: Insecure temporary file creation

1. Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Advisory Reference	GLSA 200511-19 / eix
Release Date	November 22, 2005
Latest Revision	May 22, 2006: 02
Impact	normal
Exploitable	local

Package	Vulnerable versions	Unaffected versions	Architecture(s)
app-portage/eix	< 0.5.0_pre2	>= 0.5.0_pre2, revision >= 0.3.0-r2	All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #112061

Synopsis

eix has an insecure temporary file creation vulnerability, potentially allowing a local user to overwrite arbitrary files.

2. Impact Information

Background

eix is a small utility for searching ebuilds with indexing for fast results.

Description

Eric Romang discovered that eix creates a temporary file with a predictable name. eix creates a temporary file in /tmp/eix.*.sync where * is the process ID of the shell running eix.

Impact

A local attacker can watch the process list and determine the process ID of the shell running eix while the "emerge --sync" command is running, then create a link from the corresponding temporary file to a system file, which would result in the file being overwritten with the rights of the user running the application.

3. Resolution Information

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All eix users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose app-portage/eix

4. References

CVE-2005-3785

Page updated November 22, 2005

Summary: This is a Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

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