A VMware Workstation security update is available for Gentoo Linux

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Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 200502-18
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http://security.gentoo.org/
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Severity: Normal
Title: VMware Workstation: Untrusted library search path
Date: February 14, 2005
Bugs: #81344
ID: 200502-18

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Synopsis
=======

VMware may load shared libraries from an untrusted, world-writable directory, resulting in the execution of arbitrary code.



Background
=========

VMware Workstation is a powerful virtual machine for developers and system administrators.

Affected packages
================

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Package / Vulnerable / Unaffected
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1 vmware-workstation < 4.5.2.8848-r5 >= 4.5.2.8848-r5

Description
==========

Tavis Ormandy of the Gentoo Linux Security Audit Team has discovered that VMware Workstation searches for gdk-pixbuf loadable modules in an untrusted, world-writable directory.

Impact
=====

A local attacker could create a malicious shared object that would be loaded by VMware, resulting in the execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running VMware.

Workaround
=========

The system administrator may create the file /tmp/rrdharan to prevent malicious users from creating a directory at that location:

# touch /tmp/rrdharan

Resolution
=========

All VMware Workstation users should upgrade to the latest version:

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose
">=app-emulation/vmware-workstation-4.5.2.8848-r5"

Availability
===========

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website:

http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200502-18.xml

Concerns?
========

Security is a primary focus of Gentoo Linux and ensuring the confidentiality and security of our users machines is of utmost importance to us. Any security concerns should be addressed to security@gentoo.org or alternatively, you may file a bug at http://bugs.gentoo.org.

License
======

Copyright 2005 Gentoo Foundation, Inc; referenced text belongs to its owner(s).

The contents of this document are licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution / Share Alike license.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0