The (1) pam_env and (2) pam_mail modules in Linux-PAM (aka...

Vulnerability Description

The (1) pam_env and (2) pam_mail modules in Linux-PAM (aka pam) before 1.1.2 use root privileges during read access to files and directories that belong to arbitrary user accounts, which might allow local users to obtain sensitive information by leveraging this filesystem activity, as demonstrated by a symlink attack on the .pam_environment file in a user's home directory.

References

• http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/27/5
• http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/21/3
• http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-201206-31.xml
• http://lists.vmware.com/pipermail/security-announce/2011/000126.html
• http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2011/0606
• http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/516909/100/0/threaded
• http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/24/2
• http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/27/10
• http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/27/4
• http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2010:220
• http://secunia.com/advisories/49711
• http://git.altlinux.org/people/ldv/packages/?p=pam.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=06f882f30092a39a1db867c9744b2ca8d60e4ad6
• http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/27/7
• http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2010-0891.html
• https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=641335
• http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/10/25/2
• http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2010-0819.html
• http://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2011-0004.html
• http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/27/8