GLSA 200805-03 Multiple X11 terminals: Local privilege escalation

Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 200805-03
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
http://security.gentoo.org/
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Severity: Normal
Title: Multiple X11 terminals: Local privilege escalation
Date: May 07, 2008
Bugs: #216833, #217819, #219746, #219750, #219754, #219760, #219762=

ID: 200805-03

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Synopsis
========

A vulnerability was found in aterm, Eterm, Mrxvt, multi-aterm, RXVT,
rxvt-unicode, and wterm, allowing for local privilege escalation.

Background
==========

Aterm, Eterm, Mrxvt, multi-aterm, RXVT, rxvt-unicode, and wterm are X11
terminal emulators.

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

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Package / Vulnerable / Unaffected
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 x11-terms/aterm lt; 1.0.1-r1 gt;= 1.0.1-r1
2 x11-terms/eterm lt; 0.9.4-r1 gt;= 0.9.4-r1
3 x11-terms/mrxvt lt; 0.5.3-r2 gt;= 0.5.3-r2
4 x11-terms/multi-aterm lt; 0.2.1-r1 gt;= 0.2.1-r1
5 x11-terms/rxvt lt; 2.7.10-r4 gt;= 2.7.10-r4
6 x11-terms/rxvt-unicode lt; 9.02-r1 gt;= 9.02-r1
7 x11-terms/wterm lt; 6.2.9-r3 gt;= 6.2.9-r3
-------------------------------------------------------------------
7 affected packages on all of their supported architectures.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Bernhard R. Link discovered that Eterm opens a terminal on :0 if the
"-display" option is not specified and the DISPLAY environment variable
is not set. Further research by the Gentoo Security Team has shown that
aterm, Mrxvt, multi-aterm, RXVT, rxvt-unicode, and wterm are also
affected.

Impact
======

A local attacker could exploit this vulnerability to hijack X11
terminals of other users.

Workaround
==========

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution
==========

All aterm users should upgrade to the latest version:

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose "gt;=x11-terms/aterm-1.0.1-r1"

All Eterm users should upgrade to the latest version:

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose "gt;=x11-terms/eterm-0.9.4-r1"

All Mrxvt users should upgrade to the latest version:

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose "gt;=x11-terms/mrxvt-0.5.3-r2"

All multi-aterm users should upgrade to the latest version:

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose "gt;=x11-terms/multi-aterm-0.2.1-r=
1"

All RXVT users should upgrade to the latest version:

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose "gt;=x11-terms/rxvt-2.7.10-r4"

All rxvt-unicode users should upgrade to the latest version:

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose "gt;=x11-terms/rxvt-unicode-9.02-r=
1"

All wterm users should upgrade to the latest version:

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose "gt;=x11-terms/wterm-6.2.9-r3"

References
==========

[ 1 ] CVE-2008-1142
http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2008-1142
[ 2 ] CVE-2008-1692
http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2008-1692

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

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

http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200805-03.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 2008 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/2.5