Vigil@nce: R, file corruption via javareconf
September 2008 by Vigil@nce
SYNTHESIS
A local attacker can wait for a victim to use javreconf in order
to alter a file with his privileges.
Gravity: 1/4
Consequences: data creation/edition
Provenance: user shell
Means of attack: 1 attack
Ability of attacker: technician (2/4)
Confidence: confirmed by the editor (5/5)
Diffusion of the vulnerable configuration: high (3/3)
Creation date: 17/09/2008
Identifier: VIGILANCE-VUL-8113
IMPACTED PRODUCTS
– Mandriva Linux [confidential versions]
– Unix - plateform
DESCRIPTION
The R environment provides statistic computation tools.
The javareconf shell script adapts the configuration for Java. In
order to do so, it creates the file /tmp/A.java containing Java
code:
echo "public class A " > /tmp/A.java
However, if a symbolic link has the name A.java, it is followed,
and its contents are overwritten by the Java code.
A local attacker can thus force the corruption of a file when the
victim uses javareconf.
CHARACTERISTICS
Identifiers: 496363, CVE-2008-3931, MDVSA-2008:198,
VIGILANCE-VUL-8113