Vulnerability Note VU#527736

mkpasswd uses weak random number generator

Original Release date: 02 Apr 2003 | Last revised: 11 Apr 2003

Overview

Mkpasswd generates passwords that are insufficiently random.

Description

Mkpasswd is a password generation utility included with Red Hat Linux and possibly other Linux distributions. Mkpasswd generates passwords that are not sufficiently random, which may allow an attacker to predict passwords and consequently gain unauthorized access to other accounts on the system. This vulnerability occurs because mkpasswd uses the current process ID as the seed for the random number generator. Because of this, the number of passwords is limited to the size of the process table on the operating system.

Impact

An attacker may be able to predict passwords and consequently gain unauthorized access to other accounts on the system.

Solution

Apply a patch from your vendor.

Systems Affected (Learn More)

VendorStatusDate NotifiedDate Updated
Red Hat Inc.Affected-02 Apr 2003
Apple Computer Inc.Not Affected-03 Apr 2003
Foundry Networks Inc.Not Affected-04 Apr 2003
FujitsuNot Affected-10 Apr 2003
Hewlett-Packard CompanyNot Affected-03 Apr 2003
HitachiNot Affected-11 Apr 2003
If you are a vendor and your product is affected, let us know.

CVSS Metrics (Learn More)

Group Score Vector
Base N/A N/A
Temporal N/A N/A
Environmental N/A N/A

References

Credit

This vulnerability was reported by Shez <shez@molions.com>.

This document was written by Ian A. Finlay.

Other Information

  • CVE IDs: Unknown
  • Date Public: 11 Apr 2001
  • Date First Published: 02 Apr 2003
  • Date Last Updated: 11 Apr 2003
  • Severity Metric: 7.03
  • Document Revision: 19

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