Overview
The CERT/CC has received a public report of a local buffer overflow vulnerability in the pwck utility.
Description
The pwck utility performs syntax checking of /etc/password and /etc/shadow password information files. This utility contains a buffer overflow vulnerability in the section of code that parses command line arguments. By sending a command line argument string of approximately 3000 characters, it is possible to cause this utility to generate a segmentation fault. On systems where this utility is installed with setuid root privileges, it may be possible for local users to exploit this vulnerability to execute arbitrary code with superuser privileges. This vulnerability has been reported to affect systems running IRIX and Linux, but other operating systems that include this setuid root utility are likely to be affected. |
Impact
This vulnerability may allow a local user to execute arbitrary code with superuser privileges. |
Solution
The CERT/CC is currently unaware of a practical solution to this problem. |
Clear the setuid bit of affected binaries |
Vendor Information
CVSS Metrics
| Group | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|
| Base | ||
| Temporal | ||
| Environmental |
References
Acknowledgements
This vulnerability was reported to several SecurityFocus mailing lists on 01/02/2002 by blackshell@hushmail.com.
This document was written by Jeffrey P. Lanza.
Other Information
| CVE IDs: | None |
| Severity Metric: | 10.69 |
| Date Public: | 2002-01-02 |
| Date First Published: | 2002-01-04 |
| Date Last Updated: | 2002-07-05 21:19 UTC |
| Document Revision: | 19 |