Marking as a security vulnerability: As noted in <https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt- listchanges/+bug/787802/comments/9>, it's possible to get to a root shell from 'less' (the pager invoked by apt-listchanges). While 'less' is displaying the list of changes, type '!sh' (without the quotes) and hit enter. This allows a user that is authorized to do the org.debian.apt.upgrade-packages policykit action to invoke arbitrary commands as root.
Note that users are not required to type a password to run the org.debian.apt.upgrade-packages action (see <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SecurityTeam/FAQ#Update_Manager_doesn.27t_prompt_for_security_updates>). This makes it possible for malware running as the authorized user to gain root access without knowing the password. ** This bug has been flagged as a security vulnerability -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/995195 Title: apt-listchanges causes update-manager to appear to hang To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt-listchanges/+bug/995195/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
