[ GLSA 200411-26 ] GIMPS, SETI@home, ChessBrain: Insecure installation

GLSA · Last edited by GLSA on Tue May 23, 2006 4:18 am; edited 2 times in total

Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Title: GIMPS, SETI@home, ChessBrain: Insecure installation (GLSA 200411-26)
Severity: high
Exploitable: local
Date: November 17, 2004
Updated: May 22, 2006
Bug(s): #69868
ID: 200411-26

Synopsis

Improper file ownership allows user-owned files to be run with root privileges by init scripts.

Background

GIMPS is a client for the distributed Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search. SETI@home is the client for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project. ChessBrain is the client for the distributed chess supercomputer.

Affected Packages

Package: sci-misc/gimps
Vulnerable: <= 23.9
Unaffected: >= 23.9-r1
Architectures: All supported architectures

Package: sci-misc/setiathome
Vulnerable: <= 3.08-r3
Unaffected: >= 3.08-r4
Unaffected: >= 3.03-r2 < 3.4
Architectures: All supported architectures

Package: sci-misc/chessbrain
Vulnerable: <= 20407
Unaffected: >= 20407-r1
Architectures: All supported architectures

Description

GIMPS, SETI@home and ChessBrain ebuilds install user-owned binaries and init scripts which are executed with root privileges.

Impact

This could lead to a local privilege escalation or root compromise.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All GIMPS users should upgrade to the latest version: