Webmin is a web-based interface for system administration of Unix and Linux operating systems.

It has been reported that Webmin, when installed from a RPM, creates the /var/webmin directory with world-readable permissions. If command logging is enabled, it may be possible for a local attacker to read the root user's cookie-based authentication credentials. It may be possible for a local attacker to hijack the Webmin session of the root user with these credentials.

This issue was reported for version 0.92. Earlier versions may also be affected.

The directory /etc/webmin/servers/ is also created with similar insecure permissions. Authentication credentials are also stored in plaintext and may be disclosed as a result of this issue. This vulnerability is described in BugTraq ID 4351 "Webmin Plaintext Authentication Credentials Vulnerability".