Debian DSA-079-2 : uucp - uucp uid/gid access

high Nessus Plugin ID 14916

Synopsis

The remote Debian host is missing a security-related update.

Description

Zenith Parsec discovered a security hole in Taylor UUCP 1.06.1. It permits a local user to copy any file to anywhere which is writable by the uucp uid, which effectively means that a local user can completely subvert the UUCP subsystem, including stealing mail, etc.

If a remote user with UUCP access is able to create files on the local system, and can successfully make certain guesses about the local directory structure layout, then the remote user can also subvert the UUCP system. A default installation of UUCP will permit a remote user to create files on the local system if the UUCP public directory has been created with world write permissions.

Obviously this security hole is serious for anybody who uses UUCP on a multi-user system with untrusted users, or anybody who uses UUCP and permits connections from untrusted remote systems.

It was thought that this problem has been fixed with DSA 079-1, but that didn't fix all variations of the problem. The problem is fixed in version 1.06.1-11potato2 of uucp which uses a patch from the upstream author Ian Lance Taylor.

Solution

Upgrade the uucp package immediately.

See Also

http://www.debian.org/security/2001/dsa-079

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 14916

File Name: debian_DSA-079.nasl

Version: 1.18

Type: local

Agent: unix

Published: 9/29/2004

Updated: 1/4/2021

Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Agentless Assessment, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 6.7

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.2

Temporal Score: 5.3

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:uucp, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:2.2

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/Debian/release, Host/Debian/dpkg-l

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 2/8/2002

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2001-0873

BID: 3312

DSA: 079