In Apache SpamAssassin before 3.4.3, nefarious CF files can be configured to run system commands without any output or errors. With this, exploits can be injected in a number of scenarios. In addition to upgrading to SA 3.4.3, we recommend that users should only use update channels or 3rd party .cf files from trusted places. Reference: https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/2946b38caec47f7f6a79e8e03d2aa723794186e59a7dc6b5e76dfc18@%3Cannounce.spamassassin.apache.org%3E
Created spamassassin tracking bugs for this issue: Affects: fedora-all [bug 1784975]
Analysis: The attack is triggered by malicious specially crafted .cf files which are basically configuration files for spamassasin. These files can be located at: 1. /usr/share/spamassassin 2. /etc/mail/spamassassin 3. user's home directory, in a directory called .spamassassin All of these locations can only be access by the system administrator. In order to successfully exploit this, you really need to social engineer the administrator to use your .cf files and put them at these locations.
I did not mean to change the priority/severity. Reverting.
Statement: The attack is triggered by malicious specially crafted .cf files which are basically configuration files for spamassasin. These files can be located at: 1. /usr/share/spamassassin 2. /etc/mail/spamassassin 3. user's home directory, in a directory called .spamassassin All of these locations can only be accessed by either the system administrator or by a user having a local shell account on the machine. In order to successfully exploit this flaw, the attacker needs to convince the user to place the malicious configuration files in one of the above locations.
Mitigation: The attack is triggered by malicious specially crafted .cf files which are configuration files for spamassasin. Do not use untrusted configuration files for spamassisin
This bug is now closed. Further updates for individual products will be reflected on the CVE page(s): https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2018-11805
This issue has been addressed in the following products: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Via RHSA-2020:4625 https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:4625