Vulnerabilities > CVE-2014-3423 - Link Following vulnerability in multiple products
Attack vector
LOCAL Attack complexity
MEDIUM Privileges required
NONE Confidentiality impact
NONE Integrity impact
PARTIAL Availability impact
PARTIAL Summary
lisp/net/browse-url.el in GNU Emacs 24.3 and earlier allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on a /tmp/Mosaic.##### temporary file.
Vulnerable Configurations
Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
- Symlink Attack An attacker positions a symbolic link in such a manner that the targeted user or application accesses the link's endpoint, assuming that it is accessing a file with the link's name. The endpoint file may be either output or input. If the file is output, the result is that the endpoint is modified, instead of a file at the intended location. Modifications to the endpoint file may include appending, overwriting, corrupting, changing permissions, or other modifications. In some variants of this attack the attacker may be able to control the change to a file while in other cases they cannot. The former is especially damaging since the attacker may be able to grant themselves increased privileges or insert false information, but the latter can also be damaging as it can expose sensitive information or corrupt or destroy vital system or application files. Alternatively, the endpoint file may serve as input to the targeted application. This can be used to feed malformed input into the target or to cause the target to process different information, possibly allowing the attacker to control the actions of the target or to cause the target to expose information to the attacker. Moreover, the actions taken on the endpoint file are undertaken with the permissions of the targeted user or application, which may exceed the permissions that the attacker would normally have.
- Accessing, Modifying or Executing Executable Files An attack of this type exploits a system's configuration that allows an attacker to either directly access an executable file, for example through shell access; or in a possible worst case allows an attacker to upload a file and then execute it. Web servers, ftp servers, and message oriented middleware systems which have many integration points are particularly vulnerable, because both the programmers and the administrators must be in synch regarding the interfaces and the correct privileges for each interface.
- Leverage Executable Code in Non-Executable Files An attack of this type exploits a system's trust in configuration and resource files, when the executable loads the resource (such as an image file or configuration file) the attacker has modified the file to either execute malicious code directly or manipulate the target process (e.g. application server) to execute based on the malicious configuration parameters. Since systems are increasingly interrelated mashing up resources from local and remote sources the possibility of this attack occurring is high. The attack can be directed at a client system, such as causing buffer overrun through loading seemingly benign image files, as in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-028 where specially crafted JPEG files could cause a buffer overrun once loaded into the browser. Another example targets clients reading pdf files. In this case the attacker simply appends javascript to the end of a legitimate url for a pdf (http://www.gnucitizen.org/blog/danger-danger-danger/) http://path/to/pdf/file.pdf#whatever_name_you_want=javascript:your_code_here The client assumes that they are reading a pdf, but the attacker has modified the resource and loaded executable javascript into the client's browser process. The attack can also target server processes. The attacker edits the resource or configuration file, for example a web.xml file used to configure security permissions for a J2EE app server, adding role name "public" grants all users with the public role the ability to use the administration functionality. The server trusts its configuration file to be correct, but when they are manipulated, the attacker gains full control.
- Manipulating Input to File System Calls An attacker manipulates inputs to the target software which the target software passes to file system calls in the OS. The goal is to gain access to, and perhaps modify, areas of the file system that the target software did not intend to be accessible.
Nessus
NASL family Mandriva Local Security Checks NASL id MANDRIVA_MDVSA-2015-117.NASL description Updated emacs packages fix security vulnerabilities : Steve Kemp discovered multiple temporary file handling issues in Emacs. A local attacker could use these flaws to perform symbolic link attacks against users running Emacs (CVE-2014-3421, CVE-2014-3422, CVE-2014-3423, CVE-2014-3424). last seen 2020-06-01 modified 2020-06-02 plugin id 82370 published 2015-03-30 reporter This script is Copyright (C) 2015-2019 Tenable Network Security, Inc. source https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/82370 title Mandriva Linux Security Advisory : emacs (MDVSA-2015:117) code #%NASL_MIN_LEVEL 80502 # # (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc. # # The descriptive text and package checks in this plugin were # extracted from Mandriva Linux Security Advisory MDVSA-2015:117. # The text itself is copyright (C) Mandriva S.A. # include("compat.inc"); if (description) { script_id(82370); script_version("1.3"); script_cvs_date("Date: 2019/08/02 13:32:56"); script_cve_id("CVE-2014-3421", "CVE-2014-3422", "CVE-2014-3423", "CVE-2014-3424"); script_xref(name:"MDVSA", value:"2015:117"); script_name(english:"Mandriva Linux Security Advisory : emacs (MDVSA-2015:117)"); script_summary(english:"Checks rpm output for the updated packages"); script_set_attribute( attribute:"synopsis", value: "The remote Mandriva Linux host is missing one or more security updates." ); script_set_attribute( attribute:"description", value: "Updated emacs packages fix security vulnerabilities : Steve Kemp discovered multiple temporary file handling issues in Emacs. A local attacker could use these flaws to perform symbolic link attacks against users running Emacs (CVE-2014-3421, CVE-2014-3422, CVE-2014-3423, CVE-2014-3424)." ); script_set_attribute( attribute:"see_also", value:"http://advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2014-0250.html" ); script_set_attribute(attribute:"solution", value:"Update the affected packages."); script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:emacs"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:emacs-common"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:emacs-doc"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:emacs-el"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:emacs-leim"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:emacs-nox"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:mandriva:business_server:2"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2015/03/29"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2015/03/30"); script_end_attributes(); script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO); script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2015-2019 Tenable Network Security, Inc."); script_family(english:"Mandriva Local Security Checks"); script_dependencies("ssh_get_info.nasl"); script_require_keys("Host/local_checks_enabled", "Host/cpu", "Host/Mandrake/release", "Host/Mandrake/rpm-list"); exit(0); } include("audit.inc"); include("global_settings.inc"); include("rpm.inc"); if (!get_kb_item("Host/local_checks_enabled")) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_ENABLED); if (!get_kb_item("Host/Mandrake/release")) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Mandriva / Mandake Linux"); if (!get_kb_item("Host/Mandrake/rpm-list")) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING); cpu = get_kb_item("Host/cpu"); if (isnull(cpu)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_ARCH); if (cpu !~ "^(amd64|i[3-6]86|x86_64)$") audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_IMPLEMENTED, "Mandriva / Mandrake Linux", cpu); flag = 0; if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS2", cpu:"x86_64", reference:"emacs-24.3-7.1.mbs2")) flag++; if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS2", cpu:"x86_64", reference:"emacs-common-24.3-7.1.mbs2")) flag++; if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS2", reference:"emacs-doc-24.3-7.1.mbs2")) flag++; if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS2", reference:"emacs-el-24.3-7.1.mbs2")) flag++; if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS2", reference:"emacs-leim-24.3-7.1.mbs2")) flag++; if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS2", cpu:"x86_64", reference:"emacs-nox-24.3-7.1.mbs2")) flag++; if (flag) { if (report_verbosity > 0) security_note(port:0, extra:rpm_report_get()); else security_note(0); exit(0); } else audit(AUDIT_HOST_NOT, "affected");NASL family Mandriva Local Security Checks NASL id MANDRIVA_MDVSA-2014-118.NASL description Updated emacs packages fix security vulnerabilities : Steve Kemp discovered multiple temporary file handling issues in Emacs. A local attacker could use these flaws to perform symbolic link attacks against users running Emacs (CVE-2014-3421, CVE-2014-3422, CVE-2014-3423). last seen 2020-06-01 modified 2020-06-02 plugin id 74451 published 2014-06-11 reporter This script is Copyright (C) 2014-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof. source https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/74451 title Mandriva Linux Security Advisory : emacs (MDVSA-2014:118) code #%NASL_MIN_LEVEL 80502 # # (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc. # # The descriptive text and package checks in this plugin were # extracted from Mandriva Linux Security Advisory MDVSA-2014:118. # The text itself is copyright (C) Mandriva S.A. # include("compat.inc"); if (description) { script_id(74451); script_version("1.4"); script_cvs_date("Date: 2019/08/02 13:32:56"); script_cve_id("CVE-2014-3421", "CVE-2014-3422", "CVE-2014-3423"); script_bugtraq_id(67253); script_xref(name:"MDVSA", value:"2014:118"); script_name(english:"Mandriva Linux Security Advisory : emacs (MDVSA-2014:118)"); script_summary(english:"Checks rpm output for the updated packages"); script_set_attribute( attribute:"synopsis", value: "The remote Mandriva Linux host is missing one or more security updates." ); script_set_attribute( attribute:"description", value: "Updated emacs packages fix security vulnerabilities : Steve Kemp discovered multiple temporary file handling issues in Emacs. A local attacker could use these flaws to perform symbolic link attacks against users running Emacs (CVE-2014-3421, CVE-2014-3422, CVE-2014-3423)." ); script_set_attribute( attribute:"see_also", value:"http://advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2014-0250.html" ); script_set_attribute(attribute:"solution", value:"Update the affected packages."); script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P"); script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:U/RL:OF/RC:C"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"No known exploits are available"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploit_available", value:"false"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:emacs"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:emacs-common"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:emacs-doc"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:emacs-el"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:emacs-leim"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:emacs-nox"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:mandriva:business_server:1"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2014/06/10"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2014/06/11"); script_end_attributes(); script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO); script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2014-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof."); script_family(english:"Mandriva Local Security Checks"); script_dependencies("ssh_get_info.nasl"); script_require_keys("Host/local_checks_enabled", "Host/cpu", "Host/Mandrake/release", "Host/Mandrake/rpm-list"); exit(0); } include("audit.inc"); include("global_settings.inc"); include("rpm.inc"); if (!get_kb_item("Host/local_checks_enabled")) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_ENABLED); if (!get_kb_item("Host/Mandrake/release")) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Mandriva / Mandake Linux"); if (!get_kb_item("Host/Mandrake/rpm-list")) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING); cpu = get_kb_item("Host/cpu"); if (isnull(cpu)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_ARCH); if (cpu !~ "^(amd64|i[3-6]86|x86_64)$") audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_IMPLEMENTED, "Mandriva / Mandrake Linux", cpu); flag = 0; if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS1", cpu:"x86_64", reference:"emacs-23.3-9.2.mbs1")) flag++; if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS1", cpu:"x86_64", reference:"emacs-common-23.3-9.2.mbs1")) flag++; if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS1", cpu:"x86_64", reference:"emacs-doc-23.3-9.2.mbs1")) flag++; if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS1", reference:"emacs-el-23.3-9.2.mbs1")) flag++; if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS1", cpu:"x86_64", reference:"emacs-leim-23.3-9.2.mbs1")) flag++; if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS1", cpu:"x86_64", reference:"emacs-nox-23.3-9.2.mbs1")) flag++; if (flag) { if (report_verbosity > 0) security_note(port:0, extra:rpm_report_get()); else security_note(0); exit(0); } else audit(AUDIT_HOST_NOT, "affected");NASL family Fedora Local Security Checks NASL id FEDORA_2014-6554.NASL description CVE-2014-3421 CVE-2014-3422 CVE-2014-3423 CVE-2014-3424 (#1095587) Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues. last seen 2020-03-17 modified 2014-05-30 plugin id 74236 published 2014-05-30 reporter This script is Copyright (C) 2014-2020 Tenable Network Security, Inc. source https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/74236 title Fedora 20 : emacs-24.3-17.fc20 (2014-6554) code #%NASL_MIN_LEVEL 80502 # # (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc. # # The descriptive text and package checks in this plugin were # extracted from Fedora Security Advisory 2014-6554. # include("compat.inc"); if (description) { script_id(74236); script_version("1.3"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_modification_date", value:"2020/03/12"); script_cve_id("CVE-2014-3421", "CVE-2014-3422", "CVE-2014-3423", "CVE-2014-3424"); script_xref(name:"FEDORA", value:"2014-6554"); script_name(english:"Fedora 20 : emacs-24.3-17.fc20 (2014-6554)"); script_summary(english:"Checks rpm output for the updated package."); script_set_attribute( attribute:"synopsis", value:"The remote Fedora host is missing a security update." ); script_set_attribute( attribute:"description", value: "CVE-2014-3421 CVE-2014-3422 CVE-2014-3423 CVE-2014-3424 (#1095587) Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues." ); script_set_attribute( attribute:"see_also", value:"https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1095587" ); # https://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2014-May/133825.html script_set_attribute( attribute:"see_also", value:"http://www.nessus.org/u?ff0cb16d" ); script_set_attribute(attribute:"solution", value:"Update the affected emacs package."); script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:fedoraproject:fedora:emacs"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:20"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2014/05/21"); script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2014/05/30"); script_end_attributes(); script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO); script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2014-2020 Tenable Network Security, Inc."); script_family(english:"Fedora Local Security Checks"); script_dependencies("ssh_get_info.nasl"); script_require_keys("Host/local_checks_enabled", "Host/RedHat/release", "Host/RedHat/rpm-list"); exit(0); } include("audit.inc"); include("global_settings.inc"); include("rpm.inc"); if (!get_kb_item("Host/local_checks_enabled")) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_ENABLED); release = get_kb_item("Host/RedHat/release"); if (isnull(release) || "Fedora" >!< release) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Fedora"); os_ver = eregmatch(pattern: "Fedora.*release ([0-9]+)", string:release); if (isnull(os_ver)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_APP_VER, "Fedora"); os_ver = os_ver[1]; if (! ereg(pattern:"^20([^0-9]|$)", string:os_ver)) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Fedora 20.x", "Fedora " + os_ver); if (!get_kb_item("Host/RedHat/rpm-list")) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING); cpu = get_kb_item("Host/cpu"); if (isnull(cpu)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_ARCH); if ("x86_64" >!< cpu && cpu !~ "^i[3-6]86$") audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_IMPLEMENTED, "Fedora", cpu); flag = 0; if (rpm_check(release:"FC20", reference:"emacs-24.3-17.fc20")) flag++; if (flag) { if (report_verbosity > 0) security_note(port:0, extra:rpm_report_get()); else security_note(0); exit(0); } else { tested = pkg_tests_get(); if (tested) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_AFFECTED, tested); else audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_INSTALLED, "emacs"); }NASL family SuSE Local Security Checks NASL id OPENSUSE-2014-692.NASL description emacs was updated to fix four security issues. These security issues were fixed : - Avoid unsecure usage of temporary files (CVE-2014-3421). - Avoid unsecure usage of temporary files (CVE-2014-3422). - Avoid unsecure usage of temporary files (CVE-2014-3423). - Avoid unsecure usage of temporary files (CVE-2014-3424). last seen 2020-06-05 modified 2014-11-21 plugin id 79368 published 2014-11-21 reporter This script is Copyright (C) 2014-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof. source https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/79368 title openSUSE Security Update : emacs (openSUSE-SU-2014:1460-1) NASL family SuSE Local Security Checks NASL id SUSE_11_EMACS-150323.NASL description Emacs has been updated to fix the following issues : - Several cases of insecure usage of temporary files. (CVE-2014-3421 / CVE-2014-3422 / CVE-2014-3423 / CVE-2014-3424) - Use of vc-annotate for renamed files when using Git. (bnc#854683) last seen 2020-06-01 modified 2020-06-02 plugin id 83285 published 2015-05-08 reporter This script is Copyright (C) 2015 Tenable Network Security, Inc. source https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/83285 title SuSE 11.3 Security Update : emacs (SAT Patch Number 10519)