Linux nfsd Remote Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

BID:782

Info

Linux nfsd Remote Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

Bugtraq ID: 782
Class: Boundary Condition Error
CVE:
Remote: Yes
Local: Yes
Published: Nov 09 1999 12:00AM
Updated: Nov 09 1999 12:00AM
Credit: This was posted to BugTraq by Mariusz Marcinkiewicz <[email protected]> on Nov 9, 1999.
Vulnerable: Redhat Linux 5.2 i386
Debian Linux 2.1
Not Vulnerable: Redhat Linux 6.0
Debian Linux 2.2

Discussion

Linux nfsd Remote Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

A remotely exploitable buffer overflow vulnerability was found in versions of Linux nfsd known to ship with Debian Linux 2.1 and RedHat Linux 5.2. When they were fixed in the respective distributions/versions, no vulnerability information was published by the vendors. The vulnerability was in removal of long directory paths on a mounted nfs share. The length of the string holding the directory name which was to be removed was not checked and the buffer holding it could be overflowed, allowing execution of arbitrary code on the nfs server as root. A consequence of this being exploited is remote root compromise.

Exploit / POC

Linux nfsd Remote Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

Currently the SecurityFocus staff are not ware of any exploits for this issue. If you feel we are in error or are aware of more recent information, please mail us at: [email protected].

Solution / Fix

Linux nfsd Remote Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

Solution:
A temporary solution is to remove the setuid bit from nfsd and/or stop the nfsd service.

A more long term solution is to upgrade to the newest version of nfsd for linux, since this has been fixed.

Slackware 4.0:

ftp.cdrom.com:/pub/linux/slackware-4.0/patches/nfs-server.tgz

Slackware 7.0:

ftp.cdrom.com:/pub/linux/slackware-7.0/patches/nfs-server.tgz

Currently the SecurityFocus staff are not aware of any vendor supplied patches for this issue. If you feel we are in error or are aware of more recent information, please mail us at: [email protected].

References

Linux nfsd Remote Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

References:

© CVE.report 2026

Use of this information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition. There are NO warranties, implied or otherwise, with regard to this information or its use. Any use of this information is at the user's risk. It is the responsibility of user to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content. EACH USER WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY consequences of his or her direct or indirect use of this web site. ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED. This site will NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT or any other kind of loss.

CVE, CWE, and OVAL are registred trademarks of The MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CVE content is MITRE's CVE web site. This site includes MITRE data granted under the following license.

Free CVE JSON API cve.report/api

CVE.report and Source URL Uptime Status status.cve.report