6.2 - RHSA-2014:0788

Problem Description:

An updated mod_wsgi package that fixes two security issues is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having Important security impact. Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base scores, which give detailed severity ratings, are available for each vulnerability from the CVE links in the References section.

2. Relevant releases/architectures:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) - i386, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) - x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) - i386, ppc64, s390x, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) - i386, x86_64

3. Description:

The mod_wsgi adapter is an Apache module that provides a WSGI-compliant interface for hosting Python-based web applications within Apache.

It was found that mod_wsgi did not properly drop privileges if the call to setuid() failed. If mod_wsgi was set up to allow unprivileged users to run WSGI applications, a local user able to run a WSGI application could possibly use this flaw to escalate their privileges on the system. (CVE-2014-0240)

Note: mod_wsgi is not intended to provide privilege separation for WSGI applications. Systems relying on mod_wsgi to limit or sandbox the privileges of mod_wsgi applications should migrate to a different solution with proper privilege separation.

It was discovered that mod_wsgi could leak memory of a hosted web application via the "Content-Type" header. A remote attacker could possibly use this flaw to disclose limited portions of the web application's memory. (CVE-2014-0242)

Red Hat would like to thank Graham Dumpleton for reporting these issues. Upstream acknowledges Róbert Kisteleki as the original reporter of CVE-2014-0240, and Buck Golemon as the original reporter of CVE-2014-0242.

All mod_wsgi users are advised to upgrade to this updated package, which contains backported patches to correct these issues.

4. 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 https://access.redhat.com/site/articles/11258

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

1101863 - CVE-2014-0240 mod_wsgi: possible privilege escalation in setuid() failure scenarios 1101873 - CVE-2014-0242 mod_wsgi: information leak