Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 12:40:33 -0500 (EST) Reply-To: redhat-watch-list@redhat.com To: redhat-watch-list@redhat.com Subject: SECURITY: New lsof packages available Red Hat Linux 5.2 is shipping with a vulnerable version of lsof. The lsof binary is shipped setgid kmem and by exploiting a buffer overflow a user will be able to get kmem group access. Fortunately the permissions on /dev/kmem on Red Hat Linux will only grant read only access to kmem group members, so this exploit can not be used to get root access. There is an exploit floating around the net for this security problem which is based on the fact that some distributions grant both read and write access for the kmem group members to /dev/kmem. Red Hat would like to thank HERT - Hacker Emergency Response Team - for bringing this problem to our attention. Although this security hole can not be used to get root access on Red Hat Linux, there are privacy concerns that prompt us to release a security update for the lsof package. All users of Red Hat Linux 5.2 are encouraged to upgrade to the new lsof packages immediately. As always, these packages have been signed with the Red Hat PGP key. Red Hat Linux 5.2: ================== alpha: rpm -Uvh ftp://updates.redhat.com/5.2/alpha/lsof-4.40-1.alpha.rpm i386: rpm -Uvh ftp://updates.redhat.com/5.2/i386/lsof-4.40-1.i386.rpm sparc: rpm -Uvh ftp://updates.redhat.com/5.2/sparc/lsof-4.40-1.sparc.rp Source rpm: rpm -Uvh ftp://updates.redhat.com/5.2/SRPMS/lsof-4.40-1.src.rpm Cristian --- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Cristian Gafton -- gafton@redhat.com -- Red Hat Software, Inc. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNIX is user friendly. It's just selective about who its friends are.