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Home >> Browse Vulnerability Assessment Database >> Gentoo Local Security Checks >> [GLSA-200501-22] poppassd_pam: Unauthorized password changing

Vulnerability Assessment Details

[GLSA-200501-22] poppassd_pam: Unauthorized password changing

Vulnerability Assessment Summary
poppassd_pam: Unauthorized password changing

Detailed Explanation for this Vulnerability Assessment
The remote host is affected by the vulnerability described in GLSA-200501-22
(poppassd_pam: Unauthorized password changing)

Gentoo Linux developer Marcus Hanwell discovered that poppassd_pam
did not check that the old password was valid before changing
passwords. Our investigation revealed that poppassd_pam did not call
pam_authenticate before calling pam_chauthtok.

Impact

A remote attacker could change the system password of any user,
including root. This leads to a complete compromise of the POP
accounts, and may also lead to a complete root compromise of the
affected server, if it also provides shell access authenticated using
system passwords.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

References:
http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2005-0002

Solution:
All poppassd_pam users should migrate to the new package called
poppassd_ceti:
# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=net-mail/poppassd_ceti-1.8.4"
Note: Portage will automatically replace the poppassd_pam
package by the poppassd_ceti package.

Network Security Threat Level: High

Networks Security ID:

Vulnerability Assessment Copyright: (C) 2005 Michel Arboi

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