3.7 - RHSA-2005:535

Problem Description:

An updated sudo package is available that fixes a race condition in sudo's pathname validation.

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

2. Relevant releases/architectures:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS (Advanced Server) version 2.1 - i386, ia64 Red Hat Linux Advanced Workstation 2.1 - ia64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES version 2.1 - i386 Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS version 2.1 - i386 Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS version 3 - i386, ia64, ppc, s390, s390x, x86_64 Red Hat Desktop version 3 - i386, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES version 3 - i386, ia64, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS version 3 - i386, ia64, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS version 4 - i386, ia64, ppc, s390, s390x, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop version 4 - i386, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES version 4 - i386, ia64, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS version 4 - i386, ia64, x86_64

3. Problem description:

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

A race condition bug was found in the way sudo handles pathnames. It is possible that a local user with limited sudo access could create a race condition that would allow the execution of arbitrary commands as the root user. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2005-1993 to this issue.

Users of sudo should update to this updated package, which contains a backported patch and is not vulnerable to this issue.

4. 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.

5. Bug IDs fixed (http://bugzilla.redhat.com/):

161116 - CAN-2005-1993 sudo trusted user arbitrary command execution