util-linux: Arbitrary code execution — GLSA 201612-14

A vulnerability was discovered in util-linux, which could potentially lead to the execution of arbitrary code.

Affected packages

sys-apps/util-linux on all architectures
Affected versions < 2.26
Unaffected versions >= 2.26

Background

util-linux is a suite of Linux programs including mount and umount, programs used to mount and unmount filesystems.

Description

A command injection flaw was discovered in util-linux’s “blkid” utility. It uses caching files (/dev/.blkid.tab or /run/blkid/blkid.tab) to store info about the UUID, LABEL etc. it finds on certain devices. However, it does not strip ‘”’ character, so it can be confused to build variable names containing shell metacharacters, which it would usually encode inside the value.

Impact

A local attacker could create a specially crafted partition label containing arbitrary code which would get executed when the “blkid” utility processes that value.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All util-linux users should upgrade to the latest version:

 # emerge --sync
 # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=sys-apps/util-linux-2.26"
 

References

Release date
December 06, 2016

Latest revision
December 06, 2016: 1

Severity
normal

Exploitable
local

Bugzilla entries