Netatalk: Insecure tempfile handling in etc2ps.sh — GLSA 200410-25

The etc2ps.sh script, included in the Netatalk package, is vulnerable to symlink attacks, potentially allowing a local user to overwrite arbitrary files with the rights of the user running the utility.

Affected packages

net-fs/netatalk on all architectures
Affected versions < 1.6.4-r1
Unaffected versions >= 1.6.4-r1

Background

Netatalk is a kernel level implementation of the AppleTalk Protocol Suite, which allows Unix hosts to act as file, print, and time servers for Apple computers. It includes several script utilities, including etc2ps.sh.

Description

The etc2ps.sh script creates temporary files in world-writeable directories with predictable names.

Impact

A local attacker could create symbolic links in the temporary files directory, pointing to a valid file somewhere on the filesystem. When etc2ps.sh is executed, this would result in the file being overwritten with the rights of the user running the utility, which could be the root user.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All Netatalk users should upgrade to the latest version:

 # emerge sync

 # emerge -pv ">=net-fs/netatalk-1.6.4-r1"
 # emerge ">=net-fs/netatalk-1.6.4-r1"

References

Release date
October 25, 2004

Latest revision
October 25, 2004: 01

Severity
normal

Exploitable
local

Bugzilla entries