The utimensat system call (sys_utimensat) in Linux kernel 2.6.22 and other versions before 2.6.25.3 does not check file permissions when certain UTIME_NOW and UTIME_OMIT combinations are used, which allows local users to modify file times of arbitrary files, possibly leading to a denial of service.

References

• https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-2148
• https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/42342
• http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-2.6.25.y.git;a=commit;h=f9dfda1ad0637a89a64d001cf81478bd8d9b6306
• http://kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ChangeLog-2.6.25.3
• http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2008-06/msg00006.html
• http://secunia.com/advisories/30198
• http://secunia.com/advisories/30241
• http://secunia.com/advisories/30818
• http://secunia.com/advisories/31107
• http://secunia.com/advisories/31628
• http://wiki.rpath.com/wiki/Advisories:rPSA-2008-0169
• http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2008:167
• http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2008-0585.html
• http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/29134
• http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-625-1
• http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2008/1543/references