7.2 - RHSA-2009:1307

Problem Description:

Updated ecryptfs-utils packages that fix a security issue, various bugs, and add enhancements are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

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

2. Relevant releases/architectures:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 5 client) - i386, x86_64 RHEL Desktop Workstation (v. 5 client) - i386, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux (v. 5 server) - i386, ia64, ppc, s390x, x86_64

3. Description:

eCryptfs is a stacked, cryptographic file system. It is transparent to the underlying file system and provides per-file granularity.

eCryptfs is released as a Technology Preview for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4. These updated ecryptfs-utils packages have been upgraded to upstream version 75, which provides a number of bug fixes and enhancements over the previous version. In addition, these packages provide a graphical program to help configure and use eCryptfs. To start this program, run the command:

ecryptfs-mount-helper-gui

Important: the syntax of certain eCryptfs mount options has changed. Users who were previously using the initial Technology Preview release of ecryptfs-utils are advised to refer to the ecryptfs(7) man page, and to update any affected mount scripts and /etc/fstab entries for eCryptfs file systems.

A disclosure flaw was found in the way the "ecryptfs-setup-private" script passed passphrases to the "ecryptfs-wrap-passphrase" and "ecryptfs-add-passphrase" commands as command line arguments. A local user could obtain the passphrases of other users who were running the script from the process listing. (CVE-2008-5188)

These updated packages provide various enhancements, including a mount helper and supporting libraries to perform key management and mounting functions.

Notable enhancements include:

* a new package, ecryptfs-utils-gui, has been added to this update. This package depends on the pygtk2 and pygtk2-libglade packages and provides the eCryptfs Mount Helper GUI program. To install the GUI, first install ecryptfs-utils and then issue the following command:

yum install ecryptfs-utils-gui

(BZ#500997)

* the "ecryptfs-rewrite-file" utility is now more intelligent when dealing with non-existent files and with filtering special files such as the "." directory. In addition, the progress output from "ecryptfs-rewrite-file" has been improved and is now more explicit about the success status of each target. (BZ#500813)

* descriptions of the "verbose" flag and the "verbosity=[x]" option, where [x] is either 0 or 1, were missing from a number of eCryptfs manual pages, and have been added. Refer to the eCryptfs man pages for important information regarding using the verbose and/or verbosity options. (BZ#470444)

These updated packages also fix the following bugs:

* mounting a directory using the eCryptfs mount helper with an RSA key that was too small did not allow the eCryptfs mount helper to encrypt the entire key. When this situation occurred, the mount helper did not display an error message alerting the user to the fact that the key size was too small, possibly leading to corrupted files. The eCryptfs mount helper now refuses RSA keys which are to small to encrypt the eCryptfs key. (BZ#499175)

* when standard input was redirected from /dev/null or was unavailable, attempting to mount a directory with the eCryptfs mount helper caused it to become unresponsive and eventually crash, or an "invalid value" error message, depending on if the "--verbosity=[value]" option was provided as an argument, and, if so, its value. With these updated packages, attempting to mount a directory using "mount.ecryptfs" under the same conditions results in either the mount helper attempting to use default values (if "verbosity=0" is supplied), or an "invalid value" error message (instead of the mount helper hanging) if standard input is redirected and "--verbosity=1" is supplied, or that option is omitted entirely. (BZ#499367)

* attempting to use the eCryptfs mount helper with an OpenSSL key when the keyring did not contain enough space for the key resulted in an unhelpful error message. The user is now alerted when this situation occurs. (BZ#501460)

* the eCryptfs mount helper no longer fails upon receiving an incorrect or empty answer to "yes/no" questions. (BZ#466210)

Users are advised to upgrade to these updated ecryptfs-utils packages, which resolve these issues and add these enhancements.

4. Solution:

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

This update is available via 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

5. Bugs fixed (http://bugzilla.redhat.com/):

460496 - ecryptfs complains about a missing module, fails and then loads it 472524 - CVE-2008-5188 ecryptfs-utils: potential provided password disclosure in the process table 475969 - difference between the name of the binary and the name in its usage message 482834 - RHEL5: update ecryptfs-utils to latest 499128 - `man ecryptfs' is wrong on what to write to openssl_passwd_file=XXX 499367 - mount.ecrytfs hangs when used with wrong/missing stdin 500352 - mount helper asks different set questions when the mount options are OK and when are not 500361 - [ecryptfs-add-passphrase] adding key, which is in keyring already, results in error msg 500566 - When kernel does not support filename encryption `ecryptfs-add-passphrase --fnek' should exit with exit code != 0 500623 - Access-Your-Private-Data.desktop file should have an icon associated 500804 - Typo in ecryptfs-rewrite-file(1) 500810 - ecryptfs-insert-wrapped-passphrase-into-keyring fails to add passphrase to keyring if the passphrase is in the keyring already 500813 - ecryptfs-rewrite-file should be more wise when dealing with non-existing/bogus files 500817 - ecryptfs-dot-private is not expected to be executed, remove the "x" permission 500820 - ecryptfs-setup-swap: vol_id: command not found 500824 - Possible missing runtime dependencies for `ecryptfs-setup-swap' 500829 - `ecryptfs-setup-swap' tries to restart service ``cryptdisks'' which is not present in RHEL/Fedora 500850 - [RFE] ecryptfs-manager should ask for password confirmation when creating openssl key 500997 - ecryptfs-utils-gui must require pygtk2-libglade 501275 - Select key bytes: item "default" is bogus 501460 - Error msg from ecryptfs-utils does not reflect reality when adding key to "full" keyring