Vulnerabilities > CVE-2016-10374 - Link Following vulnerability in Perltidy Project Perltidy

047910
CVSS 5.5 - MEDIUM
Attack vector
LOCAL
Attack complexity
LOW
Privileges required
LOW
Confidentiality impact
NONE
Integrity impact
HIGH
Availability impact
NONE
local
low complexity
perltidy-project
CWE-59
nessus
NVD
Published: 2017-05-17
Updated: 2024-11-21

Summary

perltidy through 20160302, as used by perlcritic, check-all-the-things, and other software, relies on the current working directory for certain output files and does not have a symlink-attack protection mechanism, which allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files by creating a symlink, as demonstrated by creating a perltidy.ERR symlink that the victim cannot delete.

Vulnerable Configurations

Part Description Count
Application
Perltidy_Project
48

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 familyFedora Local Security Checks
    NASL idFEDORA_2017-C76259DDEA.NASL
    descriptionCumulative bug-fix, enhancement and security update, including fix for CVE-2016-10374: perltidy relies on the current working directory for certain output files and did not have a symlink-attack protection mechanism, which allowed local users to overwrite arbitrary files by creating a symlink, as demonstrated by creating a perltidy.ERR symlink that the victim could not delete. Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora update system website. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.
    last seen2020-06-05
    modified2017-07-17
    plugin id101718
    published2017-07-17
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2017-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/101718
    titleFedora 26 : perltidy (2017-c76259ddea)
    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 FEDORA-2017-c76259ddea.
#

include("compat.inc");

if (description)
{
  script_id(101718);
  script_version("3.4");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_modification_date", value:"2020/06/04");

  script_cve_id("CVE-2016-10374");
  script_xref(name:"FEDORA", value:"2017-c76259ddea");

  script_name(english:"Fedora 26 : perltidy (2017-c76259ddea)");
  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:
"Cumulative bug-fix, enhancement and security update, including fix for
CVE-2016-10374: perltidy relies on the current working directory for
certain output files and did not have a symlink-attack protection
mechanism, which allowed local users to overwrite arbitrary files by
creating a symlink, as demonstrated by creating a perltidy.ERR symlink
that the victim could not delete.

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding
description block directly from the Fedora update system website.
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://bodhi.fedoraproject.org/updates/FEDORA-2017-c76259ddea"
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"solution", 
    value:"Update the affected perltidy package."
  );
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N");
  script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:fedoraproject:fedora:perltidy");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:26");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2017/05/17");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2017/06/09");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2017/07/17");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"generated_plugin", value:"current");
  script_end_attributes();

  script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
  script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2017-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.");
  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 = pregmatch(pattern: "Fedora.*release ([0-9]+)", string:release);
if (isnull(os_ver)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_APP_VER, "Fedora");
os_ver = os_ver[1];
if (! preg(pattern:"^26([^0-9]|$)", string:os_ver)) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Fedora 26", "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:"FC26", reference:"perltidy-20170521-1.fc26")) flag++;


if (flag)
{
  security_report_v4(
    port       : 0,
    severity   : SECURITY_NOTE,
    extra      : rpm_report_get()
  );
  exit(0);
}
else
{
  tested = pkg_tests_get();
  if (tested) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_AFFECTED, tested);
  else audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_INSTALLED, "perltidy");
}
  • NASL familyFedora Local Security Checks
    NASL idFEDORA_2017-1F11501A9F.NASL
    descriptionCumulative bug-fix, enhancement and security update, including fix for CVE-2016-10374: perltidy relies on the current working directory for certain output files and did not have a symlink-attack protection mechanism, which allowed local users to overwrite arbitrary files by creating a symlink, as demonstrated by creating a perltidy.ERR symlink that the victim could not delete. Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora update system website. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.
    last seen2020-06-05
    modified2017-06-13
    plugin id100741
    published2017-06-13
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2017-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/100741
    titleFedora 24 : perltidy (2017-1f11501a9f)
    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 FEDORA-2017-1f11501a9f.
#

include("compat.inc");

if (description)
{
  script_id(100741);
  script_version("3.4");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_modification_date", value:"2020/06/04");

  script_cve_id("CVE-2016-10374");
  script_xref(name:"FEDORA", value:"2017-1f11501a9f");

  script_name(english:"Fedora 24 : perltidy (2017-1f11501a9f)");
  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:
"Cumulative bug-fix, enhancement and security update, including fix for
CVE-2016-10374: perltidy relies on the current working directory for
certain output files and did not have a symlink-attack protection
mechanism, which allowed local users to overwrite arbitrary files by
creating a symlink, as demonstrated by creating a perltidy.ERR symlink
that the victim could not delete.

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding
description block directly from the Fedora update system website.
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://bodhi.fedoraproject.org/updates/FEDORA-2017-1f11501a9f"
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"solution", 
    value:"Update the affected perltidy package."
  );
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N");
  script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:fedoraproject:fedora:perltidy");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:24");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2017/05/17");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2017/06/11");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2017/06/13");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"generated_plugin", value:"current");
  script_end_attributes();

  script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
  script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2017-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.");
  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 = pregmatch(pattern: "Fedora.*release ([0-9]+)", string:release);
if (isnull(os_ver)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_APP_VER, "Fedora");
os_ver = os_ver[1];
if (! preg(pattern:"^24([^0-9]|$)", string:os_ver)) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Fedora 24", "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:"FC24", reference:"perltidy-20170521-1.fc24")) flag++;


if (flag)
{
  security_report_v4(
    port       : 0,
    severity   : SECURITY_NOTE,
    extra      : rpm_report_get()
  );
  exit(0);
}
else
{
  tested = pkg_tests_get();
  if (tested) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_AFFECTED, tested);
  else audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_INSTALLED, "perltidy");
}
  • NASL familyFedora Local Security Checks
    NASL idFEDORA_2017-A3C7D077C7.NASL
    descriptionCumulative bug-fix, enhancement and security update, including fix for CVE-2016-10374: perltidy relies on the current working directory for certain output files and did not have a symlink-attack protection mechanism, which allowed local users to overwrite arbitrary files by creating a symlink, as demonstrated by creating a perltidy.ERR symlink that the victim could not delete. Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora update system website. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.
    last seen2020-06-05
    modified2017-06-12
    plugin id100732
    published2017-06-12
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2017-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/100732
    titleFedora 25 : perltidy (2017-a3c7d077c7)
    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 FEDORA-2017-a3c7d077c7.
#

include("compat.inc");

if (description)
{
  script_id(100732);
  script_version("3.4");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_modification_date", value:"2020/06/04");

  script_cve_id("CVE-2016-10374");
  script_xref(name:"FEDORA", value:"2017-a3c7d077c7");

  script_name(english:"Fedora 25 : perltidy (2017-a3c7d077c7)");
  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:
"Cumulative bug-fix, enhancement and security update, including fix for
CVE-2016-10374: perltidy relies on the current working directory for
certain output files and did not have a symlink-attack protection
mechanism, which allowed local users to overwrite arbitrary files by
creating a symlink, as demonstrated by creating a perltidy.ERR symlink
that the victim could not delete.

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding
description block directly from the Fedora update system website.
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://bodhi.fedoraproject.org/updates/FEDORA-2017-a3c7d077c7"
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"solution", 
    value:"Update the affected perltidy package."
  );
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N");
  script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:fedoraproject:fedora:perltidy");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:25");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2017/05/17");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2017/06/11");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2017/06/12");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"generated_plugin", value:"current");
  script_end_attributes();

  script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
  script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2017-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.");
  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 = pregmatch(pattern: "Fedora.*release ([0-9]+)", string:release);
if (isnull(os_ver)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_APP_VER, "Fedora");
os_ver = os_ver[1];
if (! preg(pattern:"^25([^0-9]|$)", string:os_ver)) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Fedora 25", "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:"FC25", reference:"perltidy-20170521-1.fc25")) flag++;


if (flag)
{
  security_report_v4(
    port       : 0,
    severity   : SECURITY_NOTE,
    extra      : rpm_report_get()
  );
  exit(0);
}
else
{
  tested = pkg_tests_get();
  if (tested) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_AFFECTED, tested);
  else audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_INSTALLED, "perltidy");
}

References