1. Systems affected: kppp as included in KDE up to including KDE 3.1.5. KDE 3.2.x and newer are not affected. 2. Overview: kppp, if installed suid root, allows local attackers to hijack a system's domain name resolution function. A fix introduced for a similiar vulnerability, added to the code base in 1998, was incomplete and can be bypassed. In 2002 a proper fix was made by Dirk Mueller for KDE 3.2 as part of a code audit. No advisory was issued because the problem was considered to be unexploitable at that time. iDEFENSE now rediscovered the issue and supplied an example exploit for this vulnerability. 3. Impact: Modifications to /etc/hosts and /etc/resolv.conf can be done by local users which allows manipulation of host and domain name lookups, enabling other phishing and social engineering attacks.
Created attachment 111137 [details] Proposed patch to fix this issue.
This issue also affects RHEL2.1
it's now fixed in kdenetworks-2.2.2-3.1 (2.1AS) and kdenetworks-3.1.3-1.8 (RHEL3) Josh, it's nice if you could create new errata advisory for this! thanks
public removing embargo
An advisory has been issued which should help the problem described in this bug report. This report is therefore being closed with a resolution of ERRATA. For more information on the solution and/or where to find the updated files, please follow the link below. You may reopen this bug report if the solution does not work for you. http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2005-175.html