Vulnerability DatabaseCVE-2012-0063

CVE-2012-0063:
Tucan Manager vulnerability analysis and mitigation

Overview

CVE-2012-0063 affects tucan through version 0.3.10, involving an insecure plugin update mechanism. The vulnerability was discovered and reported in January 2012. The software's plugin system, which handles downloads from various sites using Python modules, contains a critical security flaw in its update mechanism (Openwall Mailing List, Debian Tracker).

Technical details

The vulnerability stems from tucan's plugin update system which downloads and executes Python modules with user-level permissions. The system lacks proper authentication mechanisms, including no plugin signing and no certificate verification when connecting to update servers. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 8.1 (HIGH) with vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, while the CVSS v2.0 base score is 6.8 (MEDIUM) with vector (AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P) (NVD).

Impact

When exploited, this vulnerability allows attackers to execute arbitrary code with the permissions of the user running tucan. The plugins are executed with full user privileges, and since they are Python scripts, they can perform virtually any operation available to the user (Openwall Mailing List).

Mitigation and workarounds

The recommended mitigation was to disable the update mechanism entirely and distribute updated plugin files through package management systems like apt. The upstream project was advised to implement plugin signing and consider redesigning the program so plugins run in a sandbox rather than with full user permissions. However, it should be noted that the project has been discontinued since January 2013 (Red Hat Bugzilla).