From: Joshua J. Berry (condordesgentoo.org)
Date: Thu Jul 01 2004 - 13:01:46 CDT

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Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 200407-01
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                                            http://security.gentoo.org/
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  Severity: Normal
     Title: Esearch: Insecure temp file handling
      Date: July 01, 2004
      Bugs: #55424
        ID: 200407-01

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Synopsis
========

The eupdatedb utility in esearch creates a file in /tmp without first
checking for symlinks. This makes it possible for any user to create
arbitrary files.

Background
==========

Esearch is a replacement for the Portage command "emerge search". It
uses an index to speed up searching of the Portage tree.

Affected packages
=================

    -------------------------------------------------------------------
     Package / Vulnerable / Unaffected
    -------------------------------------------------------------------
  1 app-portage/esearch <= 0.6.1 >= 0.6.2

Description
===========

The eupdatedb utility uses a temporary file (/tmp/esearchdb.py.tmp) to
indicate that the eupdatedb process is running. When run, eupdatedb
checks to see if this file exists, but it does not check to see if it
is a broken symlink. In the event that the file is a broken symlink,
the script will create the file pointed to by the symlink, instead of
printing an error and exiting.

Impact
======

An attacker could create a symlink from /tmp/esearchdb.py.tmp to a
nonexistent file (such as /etc/nologin), and the file will be created
the next time esearchdb is run.

Workaround
==========

There is no known workaround at this time. All users should upgrade to
the latest available version of esearch.

Resolution
==========

All users should upgrade to the latest available version of esearch, as
follows:

    # emerge sync

    # emerge -pv ">=app-portage/esearch-0.6.2"
    # emerge ">=app-portage/esearch-0.6.2"

Availability
============

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at
the Gentoo Security Website:

     http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200407-01.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
securitygentoo.org or alternatively, you may file a bug at
http://bugs.gentoo.org.

License
=======

Copyright 2004 Gentoo Technologies, Inc; referenced text
belongs to its owner(s).

The contents of this document are licensed under the
Creative Commons - Attribution / Share Alike license.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0

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