OpenBSD /usr/bin/mail in non-interactive mode could allow local root privileges
| openbsd-mail-root-privileges (8818) |  High Risk |
Description:
A vulnerability in the /usr/bin/mail program in OpenBSD could allow a local attacker to gain root privileges on the system. The /usr/bin/mail program fails to properly filter out tilde (~) escape characters from the body of an email message when running in non-interactive mode. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability using one of the system's default cron jobs to gain root privileges on the system.
Platforms Affected:
- OpenBSD, OpenBSD 3.0 and prior
Remedy:
Upgrade to the latest version of OpenBSD 3.0-current (dated after April 8, 2002), available from the OpenBSD Web site. See References.
— OR —
Apply the patch for this vulnerability, as listed in OpenBSD Security Advisory, April 11, 2002. See References.
Consequences:
Gain Privileges
References:
- BugTraq Mailing List, Thu Apr 11 2002 - 06:29:28 CDT, local root compromise in openbsd 3.0 and below at http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2002-04/0131.html.
- OpenBSD Security Advisory, April 11, 2002, mail(1) will process tilde escapes even in non-interactive mode. This can lead to a root compromise. at http://www.openbsd.org/errata.html.
- OpenBSD Web site, OpenBSD v. 3.0 at http://www.openbsd.com/.
- ZOOM International Security Advisory April 11, 2002, OpenBSD local root compromise at http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2002-04/0132.html.
- BID-4495: OpenBSD Default Crontab root Compromise Vulnerability
- CVE-2002-0542: mail in OpenBSD 2.9 and 3.0 processes a tilde (~) escape character in a message even when it is not in interactive mode, which could allow local users to gain root privileges via calls to mail in cron.
- OSVDB ID: 5269: OpenBSD mail Escape Character Privilege Escalation
Reported:
Apr 11, 2002
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