Symlink Vulnerability in GNU automake <1.8.3

[Stefan Nordhausen <deletethis.nordhaus () informatik hu-berlin de>]

Vulnerable:      GNU automake <1.8.3
Not Vulnerable:  GNU automake 1.8.3
Project website: http://www.gnu.org/software/automake/

Description of libtool (from website):
"Automake is a tool for automatically generating `Makefile.in' files
compliant with the GNU Coding Standards."


Discussion:
The Makefiles generated by automake insecurely create temporary
directories. Because the insecure code is inside the Makefile this bug
can only be exploited during compile time.

The bug original report with some more detail can be found at 
http://sources.redhat.com/cgi-bin/gnatsweb.pl?cmd=view%20audit-trail&database=automake&pr=413


Solution:
This vulnerability has been fixed in GNU automake 1.8.3 which is the
current stable release. Programmers should update their automake 
packages and re-create their Makefiles if they were created using GNU 
automake.

Regards
Stefan Nordhausen


--
If you put garbage in a computer nothing comes out but garbage. But this 
garbage, having passed through a very expensive machine, is somehow 
enobled and none dare criticize it.