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A Portage, Gentoolkit security update has been released for Gentoo Linux

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Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 200411-13:01
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http://security.gentoo.org/
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Severity: Normal
Title: Portage, Gentoolkit: Temporary file vulnerabilities
Date: November 07, 2004
Bugs: #68846, #69147
ID: 200411-13:01

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Synopsis
=======

dispatch-conf (included in Portage) and qpkg (included in Gentoolkit) are vulnerable to symlink attacks, potentially allowing a local user to overwrite arbitrary files with the rights of the user running the script.



Background
=========

Portage is Gentoo's package management tool. The dispatch-conf utility allows for easy rollback of configuration file changes and automatic updates of configurations files never modified by users. Gentoolkit is a collection of Gentoo specific administration scripts, one of which is the portage querying tool qpkg.

Affected packages
================

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Package / Vulnerable / Unaffected
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 sys-apps/portage = 2.0.51-r3
2 app-portage/gentoolkit = 0.2.0_pre10-r1
*>= 0.2.0_pre8-r1
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2 affected packages on all of their supported architectures.
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Description
==========

dispatch-conf and qpkg use predictable filenames for temporary files.

Impact
=====

A local attacker could create symbolic links in the temporary files directory, pointing to a valid file somewhere on the filesystem. When an affected script is called, this would result in the file to be overwritten with the rights of the user running the dispatch-conf or qpkg, which could be the root user.

Workaround
=========

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution
=========

All Portage users should upgrade to the latest version:

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=sys-apps/portage-2.0.51-r3"

All Gentoolkit users should upgrade to the latest version:

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=app-portage/gentoolkit-0.2.0_pre8-r1"

Availability
===========

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website:

http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200411-13.xml

Concerns?
========

Security is a primary focus of Gentoo Linux and ensuring the confidentiality and security of our users machines is of utmost importance to us. Any security concerns should be addressed to security@gentoo.org or alternatively, you may file a bug at http://bugs.gentoo.org.

License
======

Copyright 2004 Gentoo Foundation, Inc; referenced text belongs to its owner(s).

The contents of this document are licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution / Share Alike license.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0