1. Ubuntu Security Notices
  2. USN-2579-1

USN-2579-1: autofs vulnerability

Publication date

27 April 2015

Overview

autofs could be made to run programs as an administrator if program maps were configured.

Releases

Packages

  • autofs - kernel-based automounter for Linux

Details

It was discovered that autofs incorrectly filtered environment variables
when using program maps. When program maps were configured, a local user
could use this issue to escalate privileges.

This update changes the default behaviour by adding a prefix to environment
variables. Sites using program maps will need to adapt to the new variable
names, or revert to the previous names by using a new configuration option
called FORCE_STANDARD_PROGRAM_MAP_ENV.

It was discovered that autofs incorrectly filtered environment variables
when using program maps. When program maps were configured, a local user
could use this issue to escalate privileges.

This update changes the default behaviour by adding a prefix to environment
variables. Sites using program maps will need to adapt to the new variable
names, or revert to the previous names by using a new configuration option
called FORCE_STANDARD_PROGRAM_MAP_ENV.

Update instructions

After a standard system update you need to reboot your computer to make all the necessary changes.

Learn more about how to get the fixes.

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:

Ubuntu Release Package Version
14.10 utopic autofs –  5.0.8-1ubuntu1.1

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References

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