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Change History

When bsdinstall or bsdconfig are prompted to scan for nearby Wi-Fi networks, they build up a list of network names and use bsddialog(1) to prompt the user to select a network.  This is implemented using a shell script, and the code which handled network names was not careful to prevent expansion by the shell.  As a result, a suitably crafted network name can be used to execute commands via a subshell.

The problem can be exploited to execute code as root on the system running bsdinstall or bsdconfig.  The attacker would need to create an access point with a specially crafted name and be within range of a Wi-Fi scan.  Note that bsdinstall and bsdconfig are vulnerable as soon as the user prompts them to scan for nearby networks; they do not need to actually select the malicious network.

CWE-78

https://security.freebsd.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-26:23.bsdinstall.asc