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Home >> Browse Vulnerability Assessment Database >> Gentoo Local Security Checks >> [GLSA-200408-24] Linux Kernel: Multiple information leaks

Vulnerability Assessment Details

[GLSA-200408-24] Linux Kernel: Multiple information leaks

Vulnerability Assessment Summary
Linux Kernel: Multiple information leaks

Detailed Explanation for this Vulnerability Assessment
The remote host is affected by the vulnerability described in GLSA-200408-24
(Linux Kernel: Multiple information leaks)

The Linux kernel permits a local attacker to obtain sensitive kernel
information by gaining access to kernel memory via several leaks in the
/proc interfaces. These vulnerabilities exist in various drivers which make
up a working Linux kernel, some of which are present across all
architectures and configurations.
CVE-2004-0415 deals with addressing invalid 32 to 64 bit conversions in the
kernel, as well as insecure direct access to file offset pointers in kernel
code which can be modified by the open(...), lseek(...) and other core
system I/O functions by a possible hacker.
CVE-2004-0685 deals with certain USB drivers using uninitialized structures
and then using the copy_to_user(...) kernel call to copy these structures.
This may leak uninitialized kernel memory, which can contain sensitive
information from user applications.
Finally, a race condition with the /proc/.../cmdline node was found,
permiting environment variables to be read while the process was still
spawning. If the race is won, environment variables of the process, which
might not be owned by the attacker, can be read.

Impact

These vulnerabilities permit a local unprivileged attacker to access
segments of kernel memory or environment variables which may contain
sensitive information. Kernel memory may contain passwords, data
transferred between processes, any memory which applications did not
clear upon exiting as well as the kernel cache and kernel buffers.
This information may be used to read sensitive data, open other attack
vectors for further exploitation or cause a Denial of Service if the
attacker can gain superuser access via the leaked information.

Workaround

There is no temporary workaround for any of these information leaks other
than totally disabling /proc support - otherwise, a kernel upgrade is
required. A list of unaffected kernels is provided along with this
announcement.

References:
http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2004-0415
http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2004-0685

Solution:
Users are encouraged to upgrade to the latest available sources for their
system:
# emerge sync
# emerge -pv your-favorite-sources
# emerge your-favorite-sources
# # Follow usual procedure for compiling and installing a kernel.
# # If you use genkernel, run genkernel as you would normally.

Network Security Threat Level: Medium

Networks Security ID:

Vulnerability Assessment Copyright: (C) 2005 Michel Arboi

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