[ GLSA 200810-02 ] Portage: Untrusted search path local root vulnerability

[Robert Buchholz <rbu () gentoo org>]

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Gentoo Linux Security Advisory                           GLSA 200810-02
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                                            http://security.gentoo.org/
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  Severity: High
     Title: Portage: Untrusted search path local root vulnerability
      Date: October 09, 2008
      Bugs: #239560
        ID: 200810-02

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Synopsis
========

A search path vulnerability in Portage allows local attackers to
execute commands with root privileges if emerge is called from
untrusted directories.

Background
==========

Portage is Gentoo's package manager which is responsible for
installing, compiling and updating all packages on the system through
the Gentoo rsync tree.

Affected packages
=================

    -------------------------------------------------------------------
     Package           /  Vulnerable  /                     Unaffected
    -------------------------------------------------------------------
  1  sys-apps/portage      < 2.1.4.5                        >= 2.1.4.5

Description
===========

The Gentoo Security Team discovered that several ebuilds, such as
sys-apps/portage, net-mail/fetchmail or app-editors/leo execute Python
code using "python -c", which includes the current working directory in
Python's module search path. For several ebuild functions, Portage did
not change the working directory from emerge's working directory.

Impact
======

A local attacker could place a specially crafted Python module in a
directory (such as /tmp) and entice the root user to run commands such
as "emerge sys-apps/portage" from that directory, resulting in the
execution of arbitrary Python code with root privileges.

Workaround
==========

Do not run "emerge" from untrusted working directories.

Resolution
==========

All Portage users should upgrade to the latest version:

    # cd /root
    # emerge --sync
    # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=sys-apps/portage-2.1.4.5"

NOTE: To upgrade to Portage 2.1.4.5 using 2.1.4.4 or prior, you must
run emerge from a trusted working directory, such as "/root".

References
==========

  [ 1 ] CVE-2008-4394
        http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2008-4394

Availability
============

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at
the Gentoo Security Website:

  http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200810-02.xml

Concerns?
=========

Security is a primary focus of Gentoo Linux and ensuring the
confidentiality and security of our users machines is of utmost
importance to us. Any security concerns should be addressed to
security () gentoo org or alternatively, you may file a bug at
http://bugs.gentoo.org.

License
=======

Copyright 2008 Gentoo Foundation, Inc; referenced text
belongs to its owner(s).

The contents of this document are licensed under the
Creative Commons - Attribution / Share Alike license.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5

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