2.1
Advisory Published
CVE Published
Updated

CVE-2014-1831

First published: Tue Jan 28 2014(Updated: )

An upstream commit [1] to the Passenger rubygem indicated that versions 4.0.5 and later are affected by a temporary file flaw described as follows: " Phusion Passenger creates a "server instance directory" in /tmp during startup, which is a temporary directory that Phusion Passenger uses to store working files. This directory is deleted after Phusion Passenger exits. For various technical reasons, this directory must have a semi-predictable filename. If a local attacker can predict this filename, and precreates a symlink with the same filename that points to an arbitrary directory with mode 755, owner root and group root, then the attacker will succeed in making Phusion Passenger write files and create subdirectories inside that target directory. The following files/subdirectories are created: * control_process.pid * generation-X, where X is a number. If you happen to have a file inside the target directory called `control_process.pid`, then that file's contents are overwritten. These files and directories are deleted during Phusion Passenger exit. The target directory itself is not deleted, nor are any other contents inside the target directory, although the symlink is. " It is fixed in upstream version 4.0.33. [1] <a href="https://github.com/phusion/passenger/commit/34b1087870c2">https://github.com/phusion/passenger/commit/34b1087870c2</a>

Credit: cve@mitre.org

Affected SoftwareAffected VersionHow to fix
Phusion Passenger<=4.0.36
redhat/rubygem-passenger<4.0.38
4.0.38
debian/passenger
5.0.30-1.2+deb11u1
6.0.17+ds-1
6.0.20+ds-1

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the severity of CVE-2014-1831?

    CVE-2014-1831 has a moderate severity rating due to potential exposure of sensitive data through temporary files.

  • What versions of Phusion Passenger are affected by CVE-2014-1831?

    CVE-2014-1831 affects Phusion Passenger versions up to 4.0.36.

  • How do I fix CVE-2014-1831?

    To fix CVE-2014-1831, upgrade Phusion Passenger to version 4.0.38 or later.

  • Is there a specific patch for CVE-2014-1831?

    There is no specific patch for CVE-2014-1831; users should update to a secure version of Phusion Passenger.

  • Are there any distributions affected by CVE-2014-1831?

    Yes, Red Hat and Debian distributions are affected but can be mitigated by updating to the respective fixed versions.

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