REDHAT-BUG-892813: Medium severity phusion passenger vulnerability
Michael Scherer reported that the passenger ruby gem, when used in standalone mode, does not use temporary files in a secure manner. In the lib/phusionpassenger/standalone/main.rb's createnginxcontroller function, passenger creates an nginx configuration file insecurely and starts nginx with that configuration file:
@tempdir = "/tmp/passenger-standalone.#{$$}" @configfilename = "#{@tempdir}/config"
If a local attacker were able to create a temporary directory that passenger uses and supply a custom nginx configuration file they could start an nginx instance with their own configuration file. This could result in a denial of service condition for a legitimate service or, if passenger were executed as root (in order to have nginx listen on port 80, for instance), this could lead to a local root compromise.
Affected Software
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the severity of REDHAT-BUG-892813?
The severity of REDHAT-BUG-892813 is considered high due to insecure handling of temporary files affecting system security.
How do I fix REDHAT-BUG-892813?
To fix REDHAT-BUG-892813, update the Phusion Passenger gem to the latest version that addresses the insecure configuration file creation.
What systems are affected by REDHAT-BUG-892813?
REDHAT-BUG-892813 affects systems using the Phusion Passenger gem in standalone mode.
What vulnerabilities does REDHAT-BUG-892813 introduce?
REDHAT-BUG-892813 introduces potential unauthorized access and data leakage through insecure temporary file handling.
Is there a workaround for REDHAT-BUG-892813?
Currently, the recommended workaround for REDHAT-BUG-892813 is to avoid using the affected functionality until the gem is updated.