REDHAT-BUG-654489: Medium severity Fedora Fedora vulnerability

Published Nov 18, 2010

Updated

Tavis Ormandy reported that /dev/systty in Fedora has insecure permissions (0644 instead of 0600 or 0640). This could allow a remote user logged into the system to snoop on the terminal of any user logged in on tty0.

On Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, /dev/systty is mode 0600, and on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, /dev/systty is a symlink to /dev/tty0 which is mode 0620. So this flaw only affects Fedora.

Affected Software

1 affected component

Fedora Fedora

Event History

Nov 18, 2010

Data Sourced

12:05 AM

DescriptionSeverityAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the severity of REDHAT-BUG-654489?

The severity of REDHAT-BUG-654489 is considered critical due to the insecure permissions on /dev/systty allowing potential snooping by remote users.

How do I fix REDHAT-BUG-654489?

To fix REDHAT-BUG-654489, change the permissions of /dev/systty from 0644 to 0600.

What systems are affected by REDHAT-BUG-654489?

REDHAT-BUG-654489 primarily affects Fedora, where /dev/systty has been identified with insecure permissions.

Can REDHAT-BUG-654489 be exploited remotely?

Yes, REDHAT-BUG-654489 can be exploited remotely by a user who has logged into the system and can potentially snoop on tty0.

What is /dev/systty in relation to REDHAT-BUG-654489?

In the context of REDHAT-BUG-654489, /dev/systty is a device file that is supposed to have strict permissions to protect the terminal sessions of logged-in users.