2.1 - RHSA-2006:0117

Problem Description:

An updated vixie-cron package that fixes a bug and security issue is now available.

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 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

3. Problem description:

The vixie-cron package contains the Vixie version of cron. Cron is a standard UNIX daemon that runs specified programs at scheduled times.

A bug was found in the way vixie-cron installs new crontab files. It is possible for a local attacker to execute the crontab command in such a way that they can view the contents of another user's crontab file. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project assigned the name CVE-2005-1038 to this issue.

This update also fixes an issue where cron jobs could start before their scheduled time.

All users of vixie-cron should upgrade to this updated package, which contains backported patches and is not vulnerable to 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 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.

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

154424 - [RHEL-3] cronjobs start too early 162022 - CVE-2005-1038 vixie-cron information leak 178432 - prediction: vixie-cron-4.1's pam_unix session log messages will be most unpopular 178436 - network service interruption can cause initgroups() to delay cron job execution by more than one minute