UNIX symbolic link following in open-vm-tools (Red Hat package) - CVE-2014-4199

Vulnerability identifier: #VU76017

CSH Severity: Low

CVSS v4: 4.8 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]

CVE-ID: CVE-2014-4199

CWE-ID: CWE-61

Exploitation vector: Local access

Exploit availability: No public exploit available

The vulnerability allows a local user to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to a symlink following issue. A local user can create a specially crafted symbolic link to a file in the "/tmp" folder and overwrite it, causing a denial of service condition.

open-vm-tools (Red Hat package)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Scientific Computing
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - TUS
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - AUS
Red Hat Enterprise Linux EUS Compute Node
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support

Install updates from vendor's website.

open-vm-tools (Red Hat package) - update to 9.10.2-4.el7

• http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2014/Aug/71
• http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1030758
• https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/95493

• Denial of service in open-vm-tools for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7