REDHAT-BUG-481720: Medium severity Sudo Sudo vulnerability

Published Jan 27, 2009
·
Updated

It was discovered that sudo's sudoers file parses does not correctly handle group specification in RunasUser. If group was specified in the list (using syntax %group, to allow some user to run commands as any member of the group) and the user was already member of the group, sudo actually allowed the user to run commands as arbitrary system user.

SuSE and upstream bug report: https://bugzilla.novell.com/showbug.cgi?id=468923 http://www.gratisoft.us/bugzilla/showbug.cgi?id=327

This issue was confirmed on multiple 1.6.9 sudo versions. Latest upstream 1.7.0 was reported not to be affected, 1.6.8p12 previously shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 was not affected as well. Problem was confirmed on 1.6.9p17 in RHEL5 and Fedora 10.

Upstream patch:

Index: parse.c =================================================================== RCS file: /home/cvs/courtesan/sudo/parse.c,v retrieving revision 1.160.2.21 diff -u -r1.160.2.21 parse.c --- parse.c 2 Nov 2008 14:35:53 -0000 1.160.2.21 +++ parse.c 23 Jan 2009 19:16:55 -0000 @@ -651,9 +651,11 @@ / If the user has a supplementary group vector, check it first. / - for (i = 0; i < userngroups; i++) { - if (grp->grgid == usergroups[i]) - return(TRUE); + if (strcmp(user, username) == 0) { + for (i = 0; i < userngroups; i++) { + if (grp->grgid == usergroups[i]) + return(TRUE); + } } if (grp->grmem != NULL) { for (cur = grp->grmem; cur; cur++) {

Affected Software

1 affected component
Sudo Sudo=1.6.9, >=1.6.9p17<1.7.0

Event History

Jan 27, 2009
Data Sourced
via Red Hat·11:27 AM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of REDHAT-BUG-481720?

The severity of REDHAT-BUG-481720 is considered critical due to incorrect handling of group specification in the sudoers file.

2

How do I fix REDHAT-BUG-481720?

To fix REDHAT-BUG-481720, ensure that your sudo configurations do not allow group specifications that can be abused by members of the specified group.

3

What systems are affected by REDHAT-BUG-481720?

Systems that utilize the sudo package, specifically those with versions vulnerable to the parsing issue in the sudoers file, are affected by REDHAT-BUG-481720.

4

Is there a workaround for REDHAT-BUG-481720?

A workaround for REDHAT-BUG-481720 is to avoid using group specifications in Runas_User in your sudoers file until a patch is available.

5

When was REDHAT-BUG-481720 reported?

REDHAT-BUG-481720 was reported in the Red Hat Bugzilla system, indicating an oversight in the sudo group handling in the configuration.

Contact

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