Mgetty: Insecure temporary file usage

1. Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Package	Vulnerable versions	Unaffected versions	Architecture(s)
net-dialup/mgetty	< 1.1.36-r3	>= 1.1.36-r3	All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #235806

Mgetty uses temporary files in an insecure manner, allowing for symlink attacks.

2. Impact Information

Mgetty is a set of fax and voice modem programs.

Dmitry E. Oboukhov reported that the "spooldir" directory in fax/faxspool.in is created in an insecure manner.

A local attacker could exploit this vulnerability to overwrite arbitrary files with the privileges of the user running the application.

3. Resolution Information

There is no known workaround at this time.

All Mgetty users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=net-dialup/mgetty-1.1.36-r3"

4. References

Page updated December 06, 2008

Summary: This is a Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

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