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Scientific Linux Security Update : dovecot on SL5.x i386/x86_64
medium Nessus Plugin ID 60524
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Synopsis
The remote Scientific Linux host is missing a security update.Description
A flaw was found in Dovecot's ACL plug-in. The ACL plug-in treated negative access rights as positive rights, which could allow an attacker to bypass intended access restrictions. (CVE-2008-4577)A password disclosure flaw was found with Dovecot's configuration file. If a system had the 'ssl_key_password' option defined, any local user could view the SSL key password. (CVE-2008-4870)
Note: This flaw did not allow the attacker to acquire the contents of the SSL key. The password has no value without the key file which arbitrary users should not have read access to.
To better protect even this value, however, the dovecot.conf file now supports the '!include_try' directive. The ssl_key_password option should be moved from dovecot.conf to a new file owned by, and only readable and writable by, root (ie 0600). This file should be referenced from dovecot.conf by setting the '!include_try [/path/to/password/file]' option.
Additionally, this update addresses the following bugs :
- the dovecot init script -- /etc/rc.d/init.d/dovecot -- did not check if the dovecot binary or configuration files existed. It also used the wrong pid file for checking the dovecot service's status. This update includes a new init script that corrects these errors.
- the %files section of the dovecot spec file did not include '%dir %{ssldir}/private'. As a consequence, the /etc/pki/private/ directory was not owned by dovecot.
(Note: files inside /etc/pki/private/ were and are owned by dovecot.) With this update, the missing line has been added to the spec file, and the noted directory is now owned by dovecot.
- in some previously released versions of dovecot, the authentication process accepted (and passed along un-escaped) passwords containing characters that had special meaning to dovecot's internal protocols. This updated release prevents such passwords from being passed back, instead returning the error, 'Attempted login with password having illegal chars'.
Note: dovecot versions previously shipped with Scientific Linux 5 did not allow this behavior. This update addresses the issue above but said issue was only present in versions of dovecot not previously included with Scientific Linux 5.
Solution
Update the affected dovecot package.See Also
Plugin Details
Severity: Medium
ID: 60524
File Name: sl_20090120_dovecot_on_SL5_x.nasl
Version: 1.5
Type: local
Agent: unix
Published: 8/1/2012
Updated: 1/14/2021
Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Nessus
Risk Information
VPR
Risk Factor: Medium
Score: 4.4
CVSS v2
Risk Factor: Medium
Base Score: 6.4
Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N
Vulnerability Information
CPE: x-cpe:/o:fermilab:scientific_linux
Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/RedHat/release, Host/RedHat/rpm-list, Host/cpu
Patch Publication Date: 1/20/2009
Reference Information
CVE: CVE-2008-4577, CVE-2008-4870
CWE: 264