runtime/staprun/staprun_funcs.c in the systemtap runtime tool (staprun) in SystemTap before 1.6 does not properly validate modules when a module path is specified by a user for user-space probing, which allows local users in the stapusr group to gain privileges via a crafted module in the search path in the -u argument.

From Red Hat Security Advisory 2011:1088 :

Updated systemtap packages that fix two security issues are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having moderate security impact. Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base scores, which give detailed severity ratings, are available for each vulnerability from the CVE links in the References section.

SystemTap is an instrumentation system for systems running the Linux kernel. The system allows developers to write scripts to collect data on the operation of the system.

It was found that SystemTap did not perform proper module path sanity checking if a user specified a custom path to the uprobes module, used when performing user-space probing ('staprun -u'). A local user who is a member of the stapusr group could use this flaw to bypass intended module-loading restrictions, allowing them to escalate their privileges by loading an arbitrary, unsigned module. (CVE-2011-2502)

A race condition flaw was found in the way the staprun utility performed module loading. A local user who is a member of the stapusr group could use this flaw to modify a signed module while it is being loaded, allowing them to escalate their privileges. (CVE-2011-2503)

SystemTap users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported patches to correct these issues.

SystemTap is an instrumentation system for systems running the Linux kernel. The system allows developers to write scripts to collect data on the operation of the system.

It was found that SystemTap did not perform proper module path sanity checking if a user specified a custom path to the uprobes module, used when performing user-space probing ('staprun -u'). A local user who is a member of the stapusr group could use this flaw to bypass intended module-loading restrictions, allowing them to escalate their privileges by loading an arbitrary, unsigned module. (CVE-2011-2502)

A race condition flaw was found in the way the staprun utility performed module loading. A local user who is a member of the stapusr group could use this flaw to modify a signed module while it is being loaded, allowing them to escalate their privileges. (CVE-2011-2503)

SystemTap users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported patches to correct these issues.

This update fixes CVE-2011-2502 and CVE-2011-2503, which affected unprivileged mode (stapusr) installations.

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

Updated systemtap packages that fix two security issues are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having moderate security impact. Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base scores, which give detailed severity ratings, are available for each vulnerability from the CVE links in the References section.

SystemTap is an instrumentation system for systems running the Linux kernel. The system allows developers to write scripts to collect data on the operation of the system.

It was found that SystemTap did not perform proper module path sanity checking if a user specified a custom path to the uprobes module, used when performing user-space probing ('staprun -u'). A local user who is a member of the stapusr group could use this flaw to bypass intended module-loading restrictions, allowing them to escalate their privileges by loading an arbitrary, unsigned module. (CVE-2011-2502)

A race condition flaw was found in the way the staprun utility performed module loading. A local user who is a member of the stapusr group could use this flaw to modify a signed module while it is being loaded, allowing them to escalate their privileges. (CVE-2011-2503)

SystemTap users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported patches to correct these issues.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
68312	Oracle Linux 6 : systemtap (ELSA-2011-1088)	Nessus	Oracle Linux Local Security Checks	medium
61097	Scientific Linux Security Update : systemtap on SL6.x i386/x86_64	Nessus	Scientific Linux Local Security Checks	medium
55744	Fedora 14 : systemtap-1.5-8.fc14 (2011-9739)	Nessus	Fedora Local Security Checks	medium
55743	Fedora 15 : systemtap-1.5-8.fc15 (2011-9722)	Nessus	Fedora Local Security Checks	medium
55684	RHEL 6 : systemtap (RHSA-2011:1088)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	medium

Detections

Analytics

CVE-2011-2502

critical

Tenable Plugins

medium

medium

medium

medium

medium