sudo 1.6.x before 1.6.9p21, when the runas_default option is used, does not properly set group memberships, which allows local users to gain privileges via a sudo command.

The remote VMware ESX / ESXi host is missing a security-related patch.
It is, therefore, affected by multiple vulnerabilities, including remote code execution vulnerabilities, in several components and third-party libraries :

  - libpng
  - VMnc Codec
  - vmrun
  - VMware Remote Console (VMrc)
  - VMware Tools
  - vmware-authd

From Red Hat Security Advisory 2010:0122 :

An updated sudo package that fixes two security issues is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

This update has been rated as having important security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team.

The sudo (superuser do) utility allows system administrators to give certain users the ability to run commands as root.

A privilege escalation flaw was found in the way sudo handled the sudoedit pseudo-command. If a local user were authorized by the sudoers file to use this pseudo-command, they could possibly leverage this flaw to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the root user. (CVE-2010-0426)

The sudo utility did not properly initialize supplementary groups when the 'runas_default' option (in the sudoers file) was used. If a local user were authorized by the sudoers file to perform their sudo commands under the account specified with 'runas_default', they would receive the root user's supplementary groups instead of those of the intended target user, giving them unintended privileges.
(CVE-2010-0427)

Users of sudo should upgrade to this updated package, which contains backported patches to correct these issues.

CVE-2010-0426 sudo: sudoedit option can possibly allow for arbitrary code execution

CVE-2010-0427 sudo: Fails to reset group permissions if runas_default set

A privilege escalation flaw was found in the way sudo handled the sudoedit pseudo-command. If a local user were authorized by the sudoers file to use this pseudo-command, they could possibly leverage this flaw to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the root user. (CVE-2010-0426)

The sudo utility did not properly initialize supplementary groups when the 'runas_default' option (in the sudoers file) was used. If a local user were authorized by the sudoers file to perform their sudo commands under the account specified with 'runas_default', they would receive the root user's supplementary groups instead of those of the intended target user, giving them unintended privileges.
(CVE-2010-0427)

a. Service Console update for COS kernel

   Updated COS package 'kernel' addresses the security issues that are    fixed through versions 2.6.18-164.11.1.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the names CVE-2009-2695, CVE-2009-2908, CVE-2009-3228,    CVE-2009-3286, CVE-2009-3547, CVE-2009-3613 to the security issues    fixed in kernel 2.6.18-164.6.1

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the names CVE-2009-3612, CVE-2009-3620, CVE-2009-3621,    CVE-2009-3726 to the security issues fixed in kernel 2.6.18-164.9.1.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the names CVE-2007-4567, CVE-2009-4536, CVE-2009-4537,    CVE-2009-4538 to the security issues fixed in kernel 2.6.18-164.10.1

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the names CVE-2006-6304, CVE-2009-2910, CVE-2009-3080,    CVE-2009-3556, CVE-2009-3889, CVE-2009-3939, CVE-2009-4020,    CVE-2009-4021, CVE-2009-4138, CVE-2009-4141, and CVE-2009-4272 to    the security issues fixed in kernel 2.6.18-164.11.1.

b. ESXi userworld update for ntp

   The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is used to synchronize the time of    a computer client or server to another server or reference time    source.

   A vulnerability in ntpd could allow a remote attacker to cause a    denial of service (CPU and bandwidth consumption) by using    MODE_PRIVATE to send a spoofed (1) request or (2) response packet    that triggers a continuous exchange of MODE_PRIVATE error responses    between two NTP daemons.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2009-3563 to this issue.

c. Service Console package openssl updated to 0.9.8e-12.el5_4.1

   OpenSSL is a toolkit implementing SSL v2/v3 and TLS protocols with    full-strength cryptography world-wide.

   A memory leak in the zlib could allow a remote attacker to cause a    denial of service (memory consumption) via vectors that trigger    incorrect calls to the CRYPTO_cleanup_all_ex_data function.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2009-4355 to this issue.

   A vulnerability was discovered which may allow remote attackers to    spoof certificates by using MD2 design flaws to generate a hash    collision in less than brute-force time. NOTE: the scope of this    issue is currently limited because the amount of computation    required is still large.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2009-2409 to this issue.

   This update also includes security fixes that were first addressed    in version openssl-0.9.8e-12.el5.i386.rpm.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the names CVE-2009-0590, CVE-2009-1377, CVE-2009-1378,    CVE-2009-1379, CVE-2009-1386 and CVE-2009-1387 to these issues.

d. Service Console update for krb5 to 1.6.1-36.el5_4.1 and pam_krb5 to    2.2.14-15.

   Kerberos is a network authentication protocol. It is designed to    provide strong authentication for client/server applications by    using secret-key cryptography.

   Multiple integer underflows in the AES and RC4 functionality in the    crypto library could allow remote attackers to cause a denial of    service (daemon crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code by    providing ciphertext with a length that is too short to be valid.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2009-4212 to this issue.

   The service console package for pam_krb5 is updated to version    pam_krb5-2.2.14-15. This update fixes a flaw found in pam_krb5. In    some non-default configurations (specifically, where pam_krb5 would    be the first module to prompt for a password), a remote attacker    could use this flaw to recognize valid usernames, which would aid a    dictionary-based password guess attack.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2009-1384 to this issue.

e. Service Console package bind updated to 9.3.6-4.P1.el5_4.2

   BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Daemon) is by far the most widely used    Domain Name System (DNS) software on the Internet.

   A vulnerability was discovered which could allow remote attacker to    add the Authenticated Data (AD) flag to a forged NXDOMAIN response    for an existing domain.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2010-0097 to this issue.

   A vulnerability was discovered which could allow remote attackers    to conduct DNS cache poisoning attacks by receiving a recursive    client query and sending a response that contains CNAME or DNAME    records, which do not have the intended validation before caching.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2010-0290 to this issue.

   A vulnerability was found in the way that bind handles out-of-    bailiwick data accompanying a secure response without re-fetching    from the original source, which could allow remote attackers to    have an unspecified impact via a crafted response.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2010-0382 to this issue.

   NOTE: ESX does not use the BIND name service daemon by default.

f. Service Console package gcc updated to 3.2.3-60

   The GNU Compiler Collection includes front ends for C, C++,    Objective-C, Fortran, Java, and Ada, as well as libraries for these    languages

   GNU Libtool's ltdl.c attempts to open .la library files in the    current working directory.  This could allow a local user to gain    privileges via a Trojan horse file.  The GNU C Compiler collection    (gcc) provided in ESX contains a statically linked version of the    vulnerable code, and is being replaced.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2009-3736 to this issue.

g. Service Console package gzip update to 1.3.3-15.rhel3

   gzip is a software application used for file compression

   An integer underflow in gzip's unlzw function on 64-bit platforms    may allow a remote attacker to trigger an array index error    leading to a denial of service (application crash) or possibly    execute arbitrary code via a crafted LZW compressed file.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2010-0001 to this issue.

h. Service Console package sudo updated to 1.6.9p17-6.el5_4

   Sudo (su 'do') allows a system administrator to delegate authority    to give certain users (or groups of users) the ability to run some    (or all) commands as root or another user while providing an audit    trail of the commands and their arguments.

   When a pseudo-command is enabled, sudo permits a match between the    name of the pseudo-command and the name of an executable file in an    arbitrary directory, which allows local users to gain privileges    via a crafted executable file.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2010-0426 to this issue.

   When the runas_default option is used, sudo does not properly set    group memberships, which allows local users to gain privileges via    a sudo command.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2010-0427 to this issue.

This update fixes two security issues :

  - Sudo failed to properly reset group permissions, when     'runas_default' option was used. If a local,     unprivileged user was authorized by sudoers file to     perform their sudo commands under default user account,     it could lead to privilege escalation. (CVE-2010-0427 :
    CVSS v2 Base Score: 6.6)

  - A privilege escalation flaw was found in the way sudo     used to check file paths for pseudocommands. If local,     unprivileged user was authorized by sudoers file to edit     one or more files, it could lead to execution of     arbitrary code, with the privileges of privileged system     user (root). (CVE-2010-0426 : CVSS v2 Base Score: 6.6)

This update fixes two security issues :

  - CVE-2010-0427:CVSS v2 Base Score: 6.6 Sudo failed to     properly reset group permissions, when 'runas_default'     option was used. If a local, unprivileged user was     authorized by sudoers file to perform their sudo     commands under default user account, it could lead to     privilege escalation CVE-2010-0426:CVSS v2 Base Score:
    6.6 A privilege escalation flaw was found in the way     sudo used to check file paths for pseudocommands. If     local, unprivileged user was authorized by sudoers file     to edit one or more files, it could lead to execution of     arbitrary code, with the privileges of privileged system     user (root).

The remote host is affected by the vulnerability described in GLSA-201003-01 (sudo: Privilege escalation)

    Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in sudo:
    Glenn Waller and neonsignal reported that sudo does not properly     handle access control of the 'sudoedit' pseudo-command     (CVE-2010-0426).
    Harald Koenig reported that sudo does not     properly set supplementary groups when using the 'runas_default' option     (CVE-2010-0427).
  Impact :

    A local attacker with privileges to use 'sudoedit' or the privilege to     execute commands with the 'runas_default' setting enabled could     leverage these vulnerabilities to execute arbitrary code with elevated     privileges.
  Workaround :

    CVE-2010-0426: Revoke all 'sudoedit' privileges, or use the full path     to sudoedit. CVE-2010-0427: Remove all occurrences of the     'runas_default' setting.

Several vulnerabilities have been discovered in sudo, a program designed to allow a sysadmin to give limited root privileges to users.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project identifies the following problems :

  - CVE-2010-0426     It was discovered that sudo when a pseudo-command is     enabled, permits a match between the name of the     pseudo-command and the name of an executable file in an     arbitrary directory, which allows local users to gain     privileges via a crafted executable file.

  - CVE-2010-0427     It was discovered that sudo when the runas_default     option is used, does not properly set group memberships,     which allows local users to gain privileges via a sudo     command.

A vulnerability has been found and corrected in sudo :

sudo 1.6.x before 1.6.9p21, when the runas_default option is used, does not properly set group memberships, which allows local users to gain privileges via a sudo command (CVE-2010-0427).

The updated packages have been patched to correct this issue.

An updated sudo package that fixes two security issues is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

This update has been rated as having important security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team.

The sudo (superuser do) utility allows system administrators to give certain users the ability to run commands as root.

A privilege escalation flaw was found in the way sudo handled the sudoedit pseudo-command. If a local user were authorized by the sudoers file to use this pseudo-command, they could possibly leverage this flaw to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the root user. (CVE-2010-0426)

The sudo utility did not properly initialize supplementary groups when the 'runas_default' option (in the sudoers file) was used. If a local user were authorized by the sudoers file to perform their sudo commands under the account specified with 'runas_default', they would receive the root user's supplementary groups instead of those of the intended target user, giving them unintended privileges.
(CVE-2010-0427)

Users of sudo should upgrade to this updated package, which contains backported patches to correct these issues.

It was discovered that sudo did not properly validate the path for the 'sudoedit' pseudo-command. A local attacker could exploit this to execute arbitrary code as root if sudo was configured to allow the attacker to use sudoedit. The sudoedit pseudo-command is not used in the default installation of Ubuntu. (CVE-2010-0426)

It was discovered that sudo did not reset group permissions when the 'runas_default' configuration option was used. A local attacker could exploit this to escalate group privileges if sudo was configured to allow the attacker to run commands under the runas_default account.
The runas_default configuration option is not used in the default installation of Ubuntu. This issue affected Ubuntu 8.04 LTS, 8.10 and 9.04. (CVE-2010-0427).

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
89740	VMware ESX / ESXi Third-Party Libraries and Components (VMSA-2010-0009) (remote check)	Nessus	VMware ESX Local Security Checks	critical
68002	Oracle Linux 5 : sudo (ELSA-2010-0122)	Nessus	Oracle Linux Local Security Checks	medium
60739	Scientific Linux Security Update : sudo on SL5.x i386/x86_64	Nessus	Scientific Linux Local Security Checks	medium
46765	VMSA-2010-0009 : ESXi ntp and ESX Service Console third-party updates	Nessus	VMware ESX Local Security Checks	high
45014	SuSE 11 Security Update : sudo (SAT Patch Number 2084)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	medium
45013	openSUSE Security Update : sudo (sudo-2083)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	medium
45012	openSUSE Security Update : sudo (sudo-2083)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	medium
45011	openSUSE Security Update : sudo (sudo-2083)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	medium
44971	GLSA-201003-01 : sudo: Privilege escalation	Nessus	Gentoo Local Security Checks	medium
44970	Debian DSA-2006-1 : sudo - several vulnerabilities	Nessus	Debian Local Security Checks	medium
44955	Mandriva Linux Security Advisory : sudo (MDVSA-2010:052)	Nessus	Mandriva Local Security Checks	medium
44949	CentOS 5 : sudo (CESA-2010:0122)	Nessus	CentOS Local Security Checks	medium
44936	Ubuntu 6.06 LTS / 8.04 LTS / 8.10 / 9.04 / 9.10 : sudo vulnerabilities (USN-905-1)	Nessus	Ubuntu Local Security Checks	medium
44924	RHEL 5 : sudo (RHSA-2010:0122)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	medium

Detections

Analytics

CVE-2010-0427

high

Tenable Plugins

critical

medium

medium

high

medium

medium

medium

medium

medium

medium

medium

medium

medium

medium