#VU38424 Link following in texlive - CVE-2015-5700

Vulnerability identifier: #VU38424

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 4.4 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2015-5700

CWE-ID: CWE-59

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
texlive
Client/Desktop applications / Other client software

Vendor: TeX Users Group

Description

The vulnerability allows a local authenticated user to read and manipulate data.

mktexlsr revision 22855 through revision 36625 as packaged in texlive allows local users to write to arbitrary files via a symlink attack.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

texlive: 20100722 - 20140525

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External links
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/07/30/6
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=775139
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1181167
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3788-1/
https://www.tug.org/svn/texlive/trunk/Build/source/texk/kpathsea/mktexlsr?r1=19613&r2=22885
https://www.tug.org/svn/texlive/trunk/Build/source/texk/kpathsea/mktexlsr?view=log

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

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