Synopsis

shadow-utils security update

Type/Severity

Security Advisory: Moderate

Topic

Updated shadow-utils packages are now available. These updated packages
correct a bug that caused the useradd tool to create mail spools with
incorrect permissions.

Description

The shadow-utils package includes programs for converting UNIX password
files to the shadow password format, plus programs for managing user and
group accounts. One of these programs is useradd, which is used to create
or update new user information.

When creating a user account, the version of useradd included in Red Hat
packages creates a mail spool file with incorrectly-set group ownership.
Instead of setting the file's group ownership to the "mail" group, it is
set to the user's primary group.

On systems where other users share the same primary group, this would allow
those users to be able to read and write other user mailboxes.

These errata packages contain an updated patch to useradd. Where a mail
group exists, mailboxes will be created with group mail having read and
write permissions. Otherwise the mailbox will be created without group
read and write permissions.

All users are advised to upgrade to these updated packages and also to
check the /var/spool/mail directory to ensure that mailboxes have correct
permissions.

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure all previously released errata
relevant to your system have been applied.

To update all RPMs for your particular architecture, run:

rpm -Fvh [filenames]

where [filenames] is a list of the RPMs you wish to upgrade. Only those
RPMs which are currently installed will be updated. Those RPMs which are
not installed but included in the list will not be updated. Note that you
can also use wildcards (*.rpm) if your current directory *only* contains the
desired RPMs.

Please note that this update is also available via Red Hat Network. Many
people find this an easier way to apply updates. To use Red Hat Network,
launch the Red Hat Update Agent with the following command:

up2date

This will start an interactive process that will result in the appropriate
RPMs being upgraded on your system.

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 2 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 2 ia64

Fixes

• BZ - 84191 - incorrect mailspool directories causes exposure

CVEs

• CVE-2002-1509

References

(none)

This erratum does not contain any packages.