Ubuntu Security Notice 1953-1 - It was discovered that polkit didn't allow applications to use the pkcheck tool in a way which prevented a race condition in the UID lookup. A local attacker could use this flaw to possibly escalate privileges.
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Ubuntu Security Notice USN-1953-1
September 18, 2013
policykit-1 vulnerability
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A security issue affects these releases of Ubuntu and its derivatives:
- Ubuntu 13.04
- Ubuntu 12.10
- Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
- Ubuntu 10.04 LTS
Summary:
polkit could be tricked into giving out improper authorization.
Software Description:
- policykit-1: framework for managing administrative policies and privileges
Details:
It was discovered that polkit didn't allow applications to use the pkcheck
tool in a way which prevented a race condition in the UID lookup. A local
attacker could use this flaw to possibly escalate privileges.
Update instructions:
The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following
package versions:
Ubuntu 13.04:
policykit-1 0.105-1ubuntu1.1
Ubuntu 12.10:
policykit-1 0.104-2ubuntu1.1
Ubuntu 12.04 LTS:
policykit-1 0.104-1ubuntu1.1
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS:
policykit-1 0.96-2ubuntu0.2
In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.
References:
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-1953-1
CVE-2013-4288
Package Information:
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/policykit-1/0.105-1ubuntu1.1
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/policykit-1/0.104-2ubuntu1.1
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/policykit-1/0.104-1ubuntu1.1
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/policykit-1/0.96-2ubuntu0.2