Audacity: Insecure temporary file creation

Security Team  Contact Address

Updated March 02, 2008

1.  Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Version Information

Advisory Reference GLSA 200803-03 / audacity
Release Date March 02, 2008
Latest Revision March 02, 2008: 01
Impact normal
Exploitable local
Package Vulnerable versions Unaffected versions Architecture(s)
media-sound/audacity < 1.3.4-r1 >= 1.3.4-r1 All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #199751

Synopsis

Audacity uses temporary files in an insecure manner, allowing for a symlink attack.

2.  Impact Information

Background

Audacity is a free cross-platform audio editor.

Description

Viktor Griph reported that the "AudacityApp::OnInit()" method in file src/AudacityApp.cpp does not handle temporary files properly.

Impact

A local attacker could exploit this vulnerability to conduct symlink attacks to delete arbitrary files and directories with the privileges of the user running Audacity.

3.  Resolution Information

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All Audacity users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=media-sound/audacity-1.3.4-r1"

4.  References