BitKeeper Vulnerabilities

Created 1/21/03

Impact

A remote attacker could execute arbitrary commands.

Background

BitKeeper is a software configuration management system for Unix, Linux, and Windows. It can be configured to run a web interface on a selected port for remote usage.

The Problem

The BitKeeper daemon, when it receives a request for the diff command in the URL, executes the diff command in a shell without filtering special characters from the arguments. It is therefore possible to execute arbitrary commands by sending a specially crafted request to the daemon. BitKeeper 3.0 is affected by this vulnerability.

BitKeeper 3.0 is also affected by a race condition which could allow a local attacker to take control of temporary files and, subsequently, to take control of the program.

Resolution

Download the latest version of BitKeeper. BitKeeper 3.0.1 was released after this vulnerability was publicized, so it presumably contains a fix.

Where can I read more about this?

This vulnerability was posted to VulnWatch.