Executive brief
SoSReport is a system diagnostic tool that collects configuration and log files into an archive for troubleshooting. The tool creates temporary files in /tmp with predictable names, allowing a local attacker to pre-create symlinks to those locations and redirect the archive to arbitrary files. This could expose sensitive system data or allow privilege escalation through symlink attacks.
Technical details
The vulnerability is a symlink attack (CWE-59) affecting SoSReport 3.0 through 3.2.x, which uses predictable temporary file names in /tmp (e.g., sosreport-$hostname-$date.tar) without checking for existing symlinks before creating the archive. A local attacker with minimal privileges can create symlinks pointing to sensitive files or directories, then trigger sosreport execution; the tool will follow the symlink and overwrite the target file with the archive contents or expose system information to the attacker's readable location. The attack requires local filesystem access and knowledge of the hostname and date, but these are easily predictable. The vulnerability was fixed in SoSReport 3.3 by using mkdtemp() or similar secure temporary directory creation mechanisms.
Affected products
- SoSReport SoSReport 3.0 through 3.2.x
Timeline
- 2015: disclosed: CVE-2015-7529 assigned
- 2016: patched: Fixed in SoSReport 3.3