am-utils: Insecure temporary file creation

1. Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Package	Vulnerable versions	Unaffected versions	Architecture(s)
net-fs/am-utils	< 6.1.5	>= 6.1.5	All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #210158

am-utils creates temporary files insecurely allowing local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack.

2. Impact Information

am-utils is a collection of utilities for use with the Berkeley Automounter.

Tavis Ormandy discovered that, when creating temporary files, the 'expn' utility does not check whether the file already exists.

A local attacker could exploit the vulnerability via a symlink attack to overwrite arbitrary files.

3. Resolution Information

There is no known workaround at this time.

All am-utils users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=net-fs/am-utils-6.1.5"

4. References

Updated April 10, 2008

Summary: This is a Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

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