Perl vulnerability update

[Raju Mathur <raju@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Folks,

The latest info from the front is that the exploit I posted about
earlier can be prevented in one of two ways:

1.  Remove /usr/bin/suidperl, or chmod 755 /usr/bin/suidperl .  This
will break any set-user-ID perl scripts or CGI's that you may have
running on your system, so don't do it blindly.

2.  Use the OpenWall patches from http://www.openwall.com/ ; this is
not completely tested, and it may still cause your system to behave a
bit erratically if someone tries the exploit on it, but it /should/
prevent a root shell to the exploiter.  No guarantees: if it breaks,
you get to keep both pieces :)

To sum up, a VERY SERIOUS local root compromise vulnerability has been
discovered in Perl 5.005_03 and later versions for Linux (and possibly
other systems).  Using this publically-available exploit, any person
who has a login shell on your computer can get root (administrator)
privileges illegally.  If you don't use Perl on your system, remove it
completely.  If you use it, you can run this command:

             chmod 755 /usr/bin/suidperl

[as root] and disable the compromise, BUT this will also disable
set-user-ID Perl and/or CGI scripts on your server.

Finally, you can install the OpenWall patches from the URL given
above, which MAY protect you against the exploit.

I'll keep the list posted as the story breaks.

Regards,

-- Raju