Gentoo 2478 Published by

A new security update has been released for Gentoo Linux - fetchmail: Password exposure in fetchmailconf. Here the announcement:



Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 200511-06
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http://security.gentoo.org/
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Severity: Normal
Title: fetchmail: Password exposure in fetchmailconf
Date: November 06, 2005
Bugs: #110366
ID: 200511-06

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Synopsis
========

fetchmailconf fails to properly handle file permissions, temporarily
exposing sensitive information to other local users.

Background
==========

fetchmail is a utility that retrieves and forwards mail from remote
systems using IMAP, POP, and other protocols. It ships with
fetchmailconf, a graphical utility used to create configuration files.

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

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Package / Vulnerable / Unaffected
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 net-mail/fetchmail < 6.2.5.2-r1 >= 6.2.5.2-r1

Description
===========

Thomas Wolff discovered that fetchmailconf opens the configuration file
with default permissions, writes the configuration to it, and only then
restricts read permissions to the owner.

Impact
======

A local attacker could exploit the race condition to retrieve sensitive
information like IMAP/POP passwords.

Workaround
==========

Run "umask 077" to temporarily strengthen default permissions, then run
"fetchmailconf" from the same shell.

Resolution
==========

All fetchmail users should upgrade to the latest version:

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=net-mail/fetchmail-6.2.5.2-r1"

References
==========

[ 1 ] Fetchmail Security Advisory
http://fetchmail.berlios.de/fetchmail-SA-2005-02.txt
[ 2 ] CVE-2005-3088
http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2005-3088

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

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

http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200511-06.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 2005 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/2.0