RHSA-2003:113

Vulnerability from csaf_redhat - Published: 2003-05-02 11:57 - Updated: 2025-11-21 17:25
Summary
Red Hat Security Advisory: : Updated mod_auth_any packages available
Severity
Important
Notes
Topic: Updated mod_auth_any packages are now available for Red Hat Linux.
Details: mod_auth_any is a Web server module that allows the Apache httpd server to call arbitrary external programs to verify user passwords. Vulnerabilities have been found in the way mod_auth_any escapes shell arguments when calling external programs. Versions of mod_auth_any included in Red Hat Linux 7.2 and 7.3 are affected. These vulnerabilities allow remote attackers to run arbitrary commands as the user under which the Web server is running. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2003-0084 to these issues. All users are advised to upgrade to these errata packages, which address these vulnerabilities by changing the method by which external programs are invoked. Note: This updated module is more careful in checking the results of the AuthAnyUserProg. Previous versions did not distinguish between the program outputting nothing due to success or a crash. This replacement version treats a zero-length result as if it were an "Authentication Error," and expects the program to output a valid username on success. Red Hat would like to thank Daniel Jarboe and Maneesh Sahani for bringing these issues to our attention.
Terms of Use: This content is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). If you distribute this content, or a modified version of it, you must provide attribution to Red Hat Inc. and provide a link to the original.
CVE-2003-0084

mod_auth_any package in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 and other operating systems does not properly escape arguments when calling other programs, which allows attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters.

Affected products
Product Identifier Version Remediation
Red Hat Linux 7.2
Red Hat / Red Hat Linux
 cpe:/o:redhat:linux:7.2 —
Vendor Fix fix
Red Hat Linux 7.3
Red Hat / Red Hat Linux
 cpe:/o:redhat:linux:7.3 —
Vendor Fix fix
Threats
Impact Important
References
To clipboard 

{
  "document": {
    "aggregate_severity": {
      "namespace": "https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/",
      "text": "Important"
    },
    "category": "csaf_security_advisory",
    "csaf_version": "2.0",
    "distribution": {
      "text": "Copyright \u00a9 Red Hat, Inc. All rights reserved.",
      "tlp": {
        "label": "WHITE",
        "url": "https://www.first.org/tlp/"
      }
    },
    "lang": "en",
    "notes": [
      {
        "category": "summary",
        "text": "Updated mod_auth_any packages are now available for Red Hat Linux.",
        "title": "Topic"
      },
      {
        "category": "general",
        "text": "mod_auth_any is a Web server module that allows the Apache httpd server to\ncall arbitrary external programs to verify user passwords.\n\nVulnerabilities have been found in the way mod_auth_any escapes shell\narguments when calling external programs. Versions of mod_auth_any included\nin Red Hat Linux 7.2 and 7.3 are affected.  These vulnerabilities\nallow remote attackers to run arbitrary commands as the user under which\nthe Web server is running.  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures\nproject (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2003-0084 to these issues.\n\nAll users are advised to upgrade to these errata packages, which address\nthese vulnerabilities by changing the method by which external programs are\ninvoked.\n\nNote: This updated module is more careful in checking the results of the\nAuthAnyUserProg. Previous versions did not distinguish between the program\noutputting nothing due to success or a crash.  This replacement version\ntreats a zero-length result as if it were an \"Authentication Error,\" and\nexpects the program to output a valid username on success.  \n\nRed Hat would like to thank Daniel Jarboe and Maneesh Sahani for bringing\nthese issues to our attention.",
        "title": "Details"
      },
      {
        "category": "legal_disclaimer",
        "text": "This content is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). If you distribute this content, or a modified version of it, you must provide attribution to Red Hat Inc. and provide a link to the original.",
        "title": "Terms of Use"
      }
    ],
    "publisher": {
      "category": "vendor",
      "contact_details": "https://access.redhat.com/security/team/contact/",
      "issuing_authority": "Red Hat Product Security is responsible for vulnerability handling across all Red Hat products and services.",
      "name": "Red Hat Product Security",
      "namespace": "https://www.redhat.com"
    },
    "references": [
      {
        "category": "self",
        "summary": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2003:113",
        "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2003:113"
      },
      {
        "category": "external",
        "summary": "77414",
        "url": "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=77414"
      },
      {
        "category": "self",
        "summary": "Canonical URL",
        "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/advisories/2003/rhsa-2003_113.json"
      }
    ],
    "title": "Red Hat Security Advisory: : Updated mod_auth_any packages available",
    "tracking": {
      "current_release_date": "2025-11-21T17:25:53+00:00",
      "generator": {
        "date": "2025-11-21T17:25:53+00:00",
        "engine": {
          "name": "Red Hat SDEngine",
          "version": "4.6.12"
        }
      },
      "id": "RHSA-2003:113",
      "initial_release_date": "2003-05-02T11:57:00+00:00",
      "revision_history": [
        {
          "date": "2003-05-02T11:57:00+00:00",
          "number": "1",
          "summary": "Initial version"
        },
        {
          "date": "2003-05-02T00:00:00+00:00",
          "number": "2",
          "summary": "Last updated version"
        },
        {
          "date": "2025-11-21T17:25:53+00:00",
          "number": "3",
          "summary": "Last generated version"
        }
      ],
      "status": "final",
      "version": "3"
    }
  },
  "product_tree": {
    "branches": [
      {
        "branches": [
          {
            "branches": [
              {
                "category": "product_name",
                "name": "Red Hat Linux 7.2",
                "product": {
                  "name": "Red Hat Linux 7.2",
                  "product_id": "Red Hat Linux 7.2",
                  "product_identification_helper": {
                    "cpe": "cpe:/o:redhat:linux:7.2"
                  }
                }
              },
              {
                "category": "product_name",
                "name": "Red Hat Linux 7.3",
                "product": {
                  "name": "Red Hat Linux 7.3",
                  "product_id": "Red Hat Linux 7.3",
                  "product_identification_helper": {
                    "cpe": "cpe:/o:redhat:linux:7.3"
                  }
                }
              }
            ],
            "category": "product_family",
            "name": "Red Hat Linux"
          }
        ],
        "category": "vendor",
        "name": "Red Hat"
      }
    ]
  },
  "vulnerabilities": [
    {
      "cve": "CVE-2003-0084",
      "ids": [
        {
          "system_name": "Red Hat Bugzilla ID",
          "text": "1616962"
        }
      ],
      "notes": [
        {
          "category": "description",
          "text": "mod_auth_any package in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 and other operating systems does not properly escape arguments when calling other programs, which allows attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters.",
          "title": "Vulnerability description"
        },
        {
          "category": "summary",
          "text": "security flaw",
          "title": "Vulnerability summary"
        }
      ],
      "product_status": {
        "fixed": [
          "Red Hat Linux 7.2",
          "Red Hat Linux 7.3"
        ]
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "category": "self",
          "summary": "Canonical URL",
          "url": "https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2003-0084"
        },
        {
          "category": "external",
          "summary": "RHBZ#1616962",
          "url": "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1616962"
        },
        {
          "category": "external",
          "summary": "https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2003-0084",
          "url": "https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2003-0084"
        },
        {
          "category": "external",
          "summary": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2003-0084",
          "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2003-0084"
        }
      ],
      "release_date": "2003-04-28T00:00:00+00:00",
      "remediations": [
        {
          "category": "vendor_fix",
          "date": "2003-05-02T11:57:00+00:00",
          "details": "Before applying this update, make sure all previously released errata\nrelevant to your system have been applied.\n\nTo update all RPMs for your particular architecture, run:\n\nrpm -Fvh [filenames]\n\nwhere [filenames] is a list of the RPMs you wish to upgrade.  Only those\nRPMs which are currently installed will be updated.  Those RPMs which are\nnot installed but included in the list will not be updated.  Note that you\ncan also use wildcards (*.rpm) if your current directory *only* contains the\ndesired RPMs.\n\nPlease note that this update is also available via Red Hat Network.  Many\npeople find this an easier way to apply updates.  To use Red Hat Network,\nlaunch the Red Hat Update Agent with the following command:\n\nup2date\n\nThis will start an interactive process that will result in the appropriate\nRPMs being upgraded on your system.",
          "product_ids": [
            "Red Hat Linux 7.2",
            "Red Hat Linux 7.3"
          ],
          "restart_required": {
            "category": "none"
          },
          "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2003:113"
        }
      ],
      "threats": [
        {
          "category": "impact",
          "details": "Important"
        }
      ],
      "title": "security flaw"
    }
  ]
}



Log in or create an account to share your comment.




Tags
Taxonomy of the tags.




Drag nodes to arrange them. Double-click a related vulnerability to open it, or a source to visit its link. The Physics button on the left tunes the layout and the simulation; the legend at the bottom left hides or shows nodes by kind and by sighting type.

Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

Author Source Type Date Other

Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Vulnerability timeline

Sightings and recorded dates, grouped by day · UTC

JSON
How durations are calculated

Following the VTEM framework (Black Hat USA 2015), time to patch starts when the vendor or a coordinator was informed, total time to patch at discovery, and disclosure to patch at public disclosure; vendor response time runs from the report to its acknowledgement. Time to exploit and time unpatched start at the earliest discovery or report, falling back to public disclosure. Unpatched time ends at the first recorded patch, or the calculation time when no patch is recorded. Exploitation to patch shows the interval between those two events; a published proof of concept is a public exploit, not exploitation.

Each result shows its source dates. A negative interval means the end event came first; when date-only inputs leave the order open, the result says so. Date-only inputs are approximate. The earliest evidence wins: KEV report dates and sightings are labelled as such. Records describing another vulnerability are listed but never calculated from, and a PoC alone does not establish exploitation. Missing patch evidence does not prove that no patch exists. Filters below change the event list only.

Loading timeline…




    Related by attack behaviour

    Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.