Vulnerability identifier: #VU45136

Vulnerability risk: Medium

CVSSv3.1: 4.7 [CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2011-1089

CWE-ID: CWE-16

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
Glibc
Universal components / Libraries / Libraries used by multiple products

Vendor: GNU

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote non-authenticated attacker to read and manipulate data.

The addmntent function in the GNU C Library (aka glibc or libc6) 2.13 and earlier does not report an error status for failed attempts to write to the /etc/mtab file, which makes it easier for local users to trigger corruption of this file, as demonstrated by writes from a process with a small RLIMIT_FSIZE value, a different vulnerability than CVE-2010-0296.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Glibc: 1.00 - 2.12.2

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External links
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/04/10
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/04/11
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/04/12
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/04/9
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/05/3
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/05/7
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/07/9
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/14/16
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/14/5
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/14/7
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/15/6
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/22/4
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/22/6
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/31/3
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/31/4
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/04/01/2
http://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=12625
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2011:178
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2011:179
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2011-1526.html
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/46740
http://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=688980

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.