fetchmail-SA-2005-02: security announcement

Topic:		password exposure in fetchmailconf

Author:		Matthias Andree
Version:	1.00
Announced:	2005-XX-XX
Type:		insecure creation of file
Impact:		passwords are written to a world-readable file
Danger:		low: the time window during which the passwords are
		readable is small.
CVE Name:	CAN-2005-XXXX
URL:		http://fetchmail.berlios.de/fetchmail-SA-2005-02.txt

Affects:	fetchmail version 6.2.5.2
		fetchmail version 6.2.5
		fetchmail version 6.2.0
		fetchmailconf 1.43 (shipped with 6.2.0, 6.2.5 and 6.2.5.2)
		(other versions have not been checked)

Not affected:	fetchmail 6.2.9-rc6  (XX not released yet)
		fetchmail 6.3.0      (not released yet)
		fetchmailconf 1.43.1

Corrected:	2005-09-28 01:14 UTC (SVN) - committed bugfix (r4351)
		2005-09-28                 - released fetchmailconf-1.43.1
		XX (add date of 6.2.9-rc6 release here)

0. Release history

2005-XX-XX	1.00 - Initial announcement

1. Background

fetchmail is a software package to retrieve mail from remote POP2, POP3,
IMAP, ETRN or ODMR servers and forward it to local SMTP, LMTP servers or
message delivery agents.

fetchmail ships with a graphical, Python/Tkinter based configuration
utility named "fetchmailconf" to help the user create configuration (run
control) files for fetchmail.

2. Problem description and Impact

The fetchmailconf program before and excluding version 1.49 opened the
run control file, wrote the configuration to it, and only then changed
the mode to 0600 (rw-------). Writing the file, which usually contains
passwords, before making it unreadable to other users, can expose
sensitive password information.

3. Workaround

Run "umask 077", then run "fetchmailconf" from the same shell.

4. Solution

Download fetchmailconf-1.43.1.gz from fetchmail's project site
<https://developer.berlios.de/project/showfiles.php?group_id=1824&release_id=6617>,
gunzip it, then replace your existing fetchmailconf with it.

Alternatively, apply this patch (you need to save this announcement
unaltered to a file unless you are sure that your system preserves HTAB
characters on copy and paste operations) to fetchmailconf and install
the patched version:

*** ./fetchmailconf.orig	Wed Sep 28 03:28:58 2005
--- ./fetchmailconf	Wed Sep 28 03:33:11 2005
***************
*** 860,871 ****
  		pass
  	    fm = open(self.outfile, 'w')
  	if fm:
  	    fm.write("# Configuration created %s by fetchmailconf\n" % time.ctime(time.time()))
  	    fm.write(`self.configuration`)
  	    if self.outfile:
  		fm.close()
- 	    if fm != sys.stdout:
- 		os.chmod(self.outfile, 0600)
  	    self.destruct()
  
  #
--- 860,871 ----
  		pass
  	    fm = open(self.outfile, 'w')
  	if fm:
+ 	    if fm != sys.stdout:
+ 		os.chmod(self.outfile, 0600)
  	    fm.write("# Configuration created %s by fetchmailconf\n" % time.ctime(time.time()))
  	    fm.write(`self.configuration`)
  	    if self.outfile:
  		fm.close()
  	    self.destruct()
  
  #

A. References

fetchmail home page: <http://fetchmail.berlios.de/>

B. Copyright, License and Warranty

(C) Copyright 2005 by Matthias Andree, <matthias.andree@gmx.de>.
Some rights reserved.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs German License. To view a copy of
this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/de/
or send a letter to Creative Commons; 559 Nathan Abbott Way;
Stanford, California 94305; USA.

THIS WORK IS PROVIDED FREE OF CHARGE AND WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES.
Use the information herein at your own risk.

END OF fetchmail-SA-2005-02.txt