FreeBSD VuXML: Documenting security issues in FreeBSD and the FreeBSD Ports Collection

FreeBSD -- Unprivileged access to system files

Affected packages
14.2 <= FreeBSD < 14.2_1
14.1 <= FreeBSD < 14.1_7
13.4 <= FreeBSD < 13.4_3

Details

VuXML ID fa9ae646-debc-11ef-87ba-002590c1f29c
Discovery 2025-01-29
Entry 2025-01-30

Problem Description:

When etcupdate encounters conflicts while merging files, it saves a version containing conflict markers in /var/db/etcupdate/conflicts. This version does not preserve the mode of the input file, and is world-readable. This applies to files that would normally have restricted visibility, such as /etc/master.passwd.

Impact:

An unprivileged local user may be able to read encrypted root and user passwords from the temporary master.passwd file created in /var/db/etcupdate/conflicts. This is possible only when conflicts within the password file arise during an update, and the unprotected file is deleted when conflicts are resolved.

References

CVE Name CVE-2025-0374
FreeBSD Advisory SA-25:03.etcupdate