[ GLSA 200805-03 ] Multiple X11 terminals: Local privilege escalation

2008-05-0800:00:00

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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 < 1.0.1-r1 >= 1.0.1-r1
2 x11-terms/eterm < 0.9.4-r1 >= 0.9.4-r1
3 x11-terms/mrxvt < 0.5.3-r2 >= 0.5.3-r2
4 x11-terms/multi-aterm < 0.2.1-r1 >= 0.2.1-r1
5 x11-terms/rxvt < 2.7.10-r4 >= 2.7.10-r4
6 x11-terms/rxvt-unicode < 9.02-r1 >= 9.02-r1
7 x11-terms/wterm < 6.2.9-r3 >= 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 &quot;&gt;=x11-terms/aterm-1.0.1-r1&quot;

All Eterm users should upgrade to the latest version:

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

All Mrxvt users should upgrade to the latest version:

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

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

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose &quot;&gt;=x11-terms/multi-aterm-0.2.1-r1&quot;

All RXVT users should upgrade to the latest version:

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

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

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose &quot;&gt;=x11-terms/rxvt-unicode-9.02-r1&quot;

All wterm users should upgrade to the latest version:

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

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
[email protected] or alternatively, you may file a bug at
http://bugs.gentoo.org.