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Document ID:	57600
Title:	Document ID 57600
Synopsis:	The gzip(1) Command May Change the Permissions of Hard Linked Files on Solaris 8 Systems
Update Date:	2004-10-01

Description

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Sun(sm) Alert Notification

Sun Alert ID: 57600
Synopsis: The gzip(1) Command May Change the Permissions of Hard Linked Files on Solaris 8 Systems
Category: Security
Product: Solaris
BugIDs: 4793452
Avoidance: Workaround, Patch
State: Resolved
Date Released: 01-Oct-2004
Date Closed: 01-Oct-2004
Date Modified:

1. Impact

If a local unprivileged user executes the gzip(1) command and specifies the "-force" or "-f" command line option, files which are hard linked to the target file(s) will have their permissions changed. This could allow other local unprivileged users the ability to read or modify files owned by the invoking user, or system files if gzip(1) is issued by a local privileged user.

2. Contributing Factors

This issue can occur in the following releases:

SPARC Platform

Solaris 8 without patch 112668-02

x86 Platform

Solaris 8 without patch 112669-02

Notes:

Solaris 7 and Solaris 9 are not affected by this issue.
The described issue only occurs with versions of gzip(1) prior to 1.3.

The version of gzip(1) on a system can be determined by running the following command:

    $ gzip --version    gzip 1.2.4 (18 Aug 93)
    Compilation options:
    DIRENT UTIME STDC_HEADERS HAVE_UNISTD_H

3. Symptoms

If the described issue occurs, files that are hard linked to the target file(s) will have their permissions changed to mode 0777 (-rwxrwxrwx).

    $ ln original-file hardlink
    $ ls -l original-file hardlink
    -rw-r--r--   2 user  staff        293 Jun 24 18:33 hardlink
    -rw-r--r--   2 user  staff        293 Jun 24 18:33 original-file
    $ gzip -f original-file
    $ ls -l original-file* hardlink
    -rwxrwxrwx   1 user  staff        293 Jun 24 18:33 hardlink
    -rw-r--r--   1 user  staff        195 Jun 24 18:33 original-file.gz

Solution Summary

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4. Relief/Workaround

To work around the described issue, avoid using the "-f" or "-force" option with the gzip(1) command.

5. Resolution

This issue is addressed in the following releases:

SPARC Platform

Solaris 8 with patch 112668-02 or later

x86 Platform

Solaris 8 with patch 112669-02 or later

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