RHSA-2010:0122 - Security Advisory

Topic

An updated sudo package that fixes two security issues is now available for
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

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

Description

The sudo (superuser do) utility allows system administrators to give
certain users the ability to run commands as root.

A privilege escalation flaw was found in the way sudo handled the sudoedit
pseudo-command. If a local user were authorized by the sudoers file to use
this pseudo-command, they could possibly leverage this flaw to execute
arbitrary code with the privileges of the root user. (CVE-2010-0426)

The sudo utility did not properly initialize supplementary groups when the
"runas_default" option (in the sudoers file) was used. If a local user
were authorized by the sudoers file to perform their sudo commands under
the account specified with "runas_default", they would receive the root
user's supplementary groups instead of those of the intended target user,
giving them unintended privileges. (CVE-2010-0427)

Users of sudo should upgrade to this updated package, which contains
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 the Red Hat Network. Details on how to
use the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at
http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/docs/DOC-11259

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 5.4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 5.4 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 5.4 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 5 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems - Extended Update Support 5.4 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 5 ppc
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian - Extended Update Support 5.4 ppc
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 5 i386

Fixes

• BZ - 567337 - CVE-2010-0426 sudo: sudoedit option can possibly allow for arbitrary code execution
• BZ - 567622 - CVE-2010-0427 sudo: Fails to reset group permissions if runas_default set

CVEs

• CVE-2010-0426
• CVE-2010-0427

References

• http://www.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#important