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Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')

CVE-2019-12209

Severity High
Score 7.5/10

Summary

Yubico pam-u2f 1.0.7 attempts parsing of the configured authfile (default $HOME/.config/Yubico/u2f_keys) as root (unless openasuser was enabled), and does not properly verify that the path lacks symlinks pointing to other files on the system owned by root. If the debug option is enabled in the PAM configuration, part of the file contents of a symlink target will be logged, possibly revealing sensitive information.

  • LOW
  • NETWORK
  • NONE
  • UNCHANGED
  • NONE
  • NONE
  • HIGH
  • NONE

CWE-59 - Improper Link Resolution Before File Access

'Improper link resolution before file access' occurs when software accesses a file resource but fails to verify that the file isn't a link or shortcut to another file. An attacker can potentially gain access to arbitrary files and from there the impact can vary, depending on the application, from sensitive data exposure to remote code execution.

References

Advisory Timeline

  • Published