Title: Mozilla Predictable Temporary File Symbolic Link Attack Vulnerability
Severity: MODERATE
Description:
Mozilla is a freely available, open source web browser. It is maintained and distributed by the Mozilla project.
A problem with Mozilla could make it possible for local users to launch symbolic link attacks against other local users. The problem is in the creation of insecure temporary files.
When Mozilla is used to surf the web, various files are created in a users home directory, and in the /tmp directory. Files stored in the users home directory usually include a cache visited pages, and images.
When Mozilla is used to visit a secure site, a file is created insecurely in the world writeable /tmp directory. The 'psm' utility invoked by Mozilla creates a file in /tmp called '.nsm-0-lock'. It is possible for a local user to create a symbolic link to a file owned by another user, and when the user executes Mozilla and visits a secure site, the linked file will be overwritten when '.nsm-0-lock' is created.
This problem makes it possible for a local user to overwrite files owned by others, and could result in a denial of service attack.
Affected Products:
- MandrakeSoft Linux Mandrake 8.0.0
- MandrakeSoft Linux Mandrake 8.0.0 ppc
- Mozilla Browser 0.8.0
References:
- Mozilla: Bugzilla Homepage
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