CFEngine Detected

CVE 2000-0947

Impact

Format string vulnerabilities in the CFEngine daemon (cfd) could lead to denial of service or remote root access.

Background

CFEngine is a scripting language used for administering large networks. The administrator can create a file which describes every host on the network. Each host runs CFEngine and uses the file to configure itself, such as creating or removing links and setting file permissions.

The Problem

The CFEngine daemon (cfd) contains format string vulnerabilities in its calls to the syslog function. These vulnerabilities could allow a remote attacker to insert arbitrary messages into the function call. These messages could be used crash the service or execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the cfd process, typically root.

This vulnerability affects CFEngine versions 1.5.x and 1.6.0 prior to 1.6.0a11. Earlier versions may be affected as well. Any system running 1.6.0a11 or higher is not affected.

Resolution

Upgrade to CFEngine version 1.6.0a11 or higher.

Where can I read more about this?

This vulnerability was posted to Bugtraq.