start_kdeinit in KDE 3.5.5 through 3.5.9, when installed setuid root, allows local users to cause a denial of service and possibly execute arbitrary code via "user-influenceable input" (probably command-line arguments) that cause start_kdeinit to send SIGUSR1 signals to other processes.

A vulnerability was found in start_kdeinit in KDE 3.5.5 through 3.5.9 where, if it was installed setuid root, it could allow local users to cause a denial of service or possibly execute arbitrary code (CVE-2008-1671).

By default, start_kdeinit is not installed setuid root on Mandriva Linux, however updated packages have been patched to correct this issue.

It was discovered that start_kdeinit in KDE 3 did not properly sanitize its input. A local attacker could exploit this to send signals to other processes and cause a denial of service or possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2008-1671).

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.

Start_kdeinit did not handle unix signals the right way (CVE-2008-1671)

The remote host is affected by the vulnerability described in GLSA-200804-30 (KDE start_kdeinit: Multiple vulnerabilities)

    Vulnerabilities have been reported in the processing of user-controlled     data by start_kdeinit, which is setuid root by default.
  Impact :

    A local attacker could possibly execute arbitrary code with root     privileges, cause a Denial of Service or send Unix signals to other     processes, when start_kdeinit is setuid root.
  Workaround :

    There is no known workaround at this time.

New kdelibs packages are available for Slackware 12.0 and -current to fix a security issue.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
36729	Mandriva Linux Security Advisory : kdelibs (MDVSA-2008:097)	Nessus	Mandriva Local Security Checks	medium
32188	Ubuntu 7.04 / 7.10 / 8.04 LTS : kdelibs vulnerability (USN-608-1)	Nessus	Ubuntu Local Security Checks	medium
32179	openSUSE 10 Security Update : kdelibs3 (kdelibs3-5223)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	medium
32111	GLSA-200804-30 : KDE start_kdeinit: Multiple vulnerabilities	Nessus	Gentoo Local Security Checks	medium
32056	Slackware 12.0 / current : kdelibs (SSA:2008-116-01)	Nessus	Slackware Local Security Checks	medium

Detections

Analytics

CVE-2008-1671

high

Tenable Plugins

medium

medium

medium

medium

medium