Bug 1165192 (CVE-2014-8121)

Analysis:

Running the test case under strace shows that /etc/passwd is continuously opened and closed:

…
open("/etc/passwd", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
lseek(3, 0, SEEK_CUR)                   = 0
read(3, "root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash\n"..., 4096) = 2717
lseek(3, 2717, SEEK_SET)                = 2717
close(3)                                = 0
open("/etc/passwd", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
lseek(3, 0, SEEK_CUR)                   = 0
lseek(3, 0, SEEK_SET)                   = 0
read(3, "root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash\n"..., 4096) = 2717
lseek(3, 2717, SEEK_SET)                = 2717
close(3)                                = 0
open("/etc/passwd", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
lseek(3, 0, SEEK_CUR)                   = 0
…

The lookup function implementation in nss/nss_files/files-XXX.c:DB_LOOKUP has code to prevent that.  It is supposed skip closing the input file if it was already open.

  /* Reset file pointer to beginning or open file.  */			      \
  status = internal_setent (keep_stream);				      \
									      \
  if (status == NSS_STATUS_SUCCESS)					      \
    {									      \
      /* Tell getent function that we have repositioned the file pointer.  */ \
      last_use = getby;							      \
									      \
      while ((status = internal_getent (result, buffer, buflen, errnop	      \
					H_ERRNO_ARG EXTRA_ARGS_VALUE))	      \
	     == NSS_STATUS_SUCCESS)					      \
	{ break_if_match }						      \
									      \
      if (! keep_stream)						      \
	internal_endent ();						      \
    }									      \

keep_stream is initialized from the stayopen flag in internal_setent.  internal_setent is called from the set*ent implementation as:

  status = internal_setent (stayopen);

However, for non-host database, this flag is always 0, per the STAYOPEN magic in nss/getXXent_r.c.

Thus, the fix is this:

-  status = internal_setent (stayopen);
+  status = internal_setent (1);

This is not a behavioral change even for the hosts database (where the application can specify the stayopen flag) because with a call to sethostent(0), the file handle is still not closed in the implementation of gethostent.

Created attachment 960834 [details]
glibc-rh1165192.patch

Proposed patch (without test case)

Created attachment 980211 [details]
glibc-rh1165192.patch

Updated patch with a test case

Created attachment 992644 [details]
Patch to be submitted upstream

Created glibc tracking bugs for this issue:

Affects: fedora-all [bug 1195201]

This issue has been addressed in the following products:

  Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

Via RHSA-2015:0327 https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2015-0327.html

Statement:

This issue affects the versions of glibc as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. Red Hat Product Security has rated this issue as having Low security impact. A future update may address this issue. For additional information, refer to the Issue Severity Classification: https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 is now in Production 3 Phase of the support and maintenance life cycle. This issue has been rated as having Low security impact and is not currently planned to be addressed in future updates. For additional information, refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Life Cycle: https://access.redhat.com/support/policy/updates/errata/.