RHSA-2005:782 - Security Advisory

Topic

Updated util-linux and mount packages that fix two security issues are now
available.

This update has been rated as having moderate security impact by the Red
Hat Security Response Team.

Description

The util-linux package contains a large variety of low-level system
utilities that are necessary for a Linux system to function.

The mount package contains the mount, umount, swapon and swapoff programs.

A bug was found in the way the umount command is executed by normal users.
It may be possible for a user to gain elevated privileges if the user is
able to execute the "umount -r" command on a mounted file system. The
file system will be re-mounted only with the "readonly" flag set, clearing
flags such as "nosuid" and "noexec". The Common Vulnerabilities and
Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2005-2876 to
this issue.

This update also fixes a hardlink bug in the script command for Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 2.1. If a local user places a hardlinked file named
"typescript" in a directory they have write access to, the file will be
overwritten if the user running script has write permissions to the
destination file. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project
(cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2001-1494 to this issue.

All users of util-linux and mount should upgrade to these updated packages,
which contain backported patches to correct these issues.

Solution

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

This update is available via Red Hat Network. 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 4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 4 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 4 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 3 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 3 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 3 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 2 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 2 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 4 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 4 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 3 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 3 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 3 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 2 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 2 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 4 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 3 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 3 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 4 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 4 s390
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 3 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 3 s390
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 4 ppc
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 3 ppc

Fixes

• BZ - 161337 - CAN-2001-1494 hardlink vulnerability in 'script' command
• BZ - 168206 - CAN-2005-2876 umount unsafe -r usage
• BZ - 168209 - CAN-2005-2876 umount unsafe -r usage

CVEs

• CVE-2001-1494
• CVE-2005-2876

References

(none)