[ GLSA 200804-08 ] lighttpd: Multiple vulnerabilities

[GLSA]

Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Title: lighttpd: Multiple vulnerabilities (GLSA 200804-08)
Severity: normal
Exploitable: remote
Date: April 10, 2008
Bug(s): #212930, #214892
ID: 200804-08

Synopsis

Multiple vulnerabilities in lighttpd may lead to information disclosure or a Denial of Service.

Background

lighttpd is a lightweight high-performance web server.

Affected Packages

Package: www-servers/lighttpd
Vulnerable: < 1.4.19-r2
Unaffected: >= 1.4.19-r2
Architectures: All supported architectures


Description

Julien Cayzax discovered that an insecure default setting exists in mod_userdir in lighttpd. When userdir.path is not set the default value used is $HOME. It should be noted that the "nobody" user's $HOME is "/" (CVE-2008-1270). An error also exists in the SSL connection code which can be triggered when a user prematurely terminates his connection (CVE-2008-1531).

Impact

A remote attacker could exploit the first vulnerability to read arbitrary files. The second vulnerability can be exploited by a remote attacker to cause a Denial of Service by terminating a victim's SSL connection.

Workaround

As a workaround for CVE-2008-1270 you can set userdir.path to a sensible value, e.g. "public_html" .

Resolution

All lighttpd users should upgrade to the latest version: