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Relaxing with the XDR Vulnerability

[This article was contributed by Tom Owen]

A vulnerability in a library is unsettling. When the affected code is in glibc it seems like genuine grounds for alarm. Not only the library itself, but potentially every static-linked executable may need to be replaced or rebuilt, and it takes a very confident system administrator to swear to the link status of everything on the system.

These vulnerabilities do appear from time to time. Fortunately, it generally turns out that thought is a substitute for panicky rebuilds. The XDR vulnerability provides a handy example.

RPC (Remote Procedure Call) is an upper-layer network protocol developed by Sun as part of their vision of network-centric computing. Services offered via RPC appear to be simple functions which are called by applications; this system has been a key basis for many distributed applications, with NFS being the most famous. One obstacle to passing program data between hosts is the varying binary representation of basic data types like integers and floating point numbers. Ones-complement integers aren't much of a problem these days, but little and big endian byte orders are in use as are non-IEEE floating point formats. The solution used by Sun is for all hosts to convert data to and from a standard network representation; this representation is called "external data representation," or XDR.

The routines for XDR data conversion are included in glibc. One of these routines (xdr_array()) has a vulnerability where a crafted message can cause a buffer overflow. Finding out how much to worry about this vulnerability is really a matter of finding all of the uses of the XDR code in your system.

The place to start is with the new glibc itself. There's no good reason not to install this update -- it's insurance against changes in the future if nothing else. Another sensible precaution for any site is to ensure that RPC network traffic is stopped at the firewall. Running RPC across the public Internet is a fine security challenge, but not an obvious win. A complete block takes a bit of research as RPC ports sometimes vary from site to site, but blocking TCP and UDP for 111 (the portmapper) and 2049 (NFS) is a start. If RPC can't get in from outside then you won't be interpreting any external messages as XDR.

For many Linux sites RPC is needed to support NFS, or other services like NIS. That's the first stopping point -- all sites without NFS and without some other need for RPC-based services can stop now. Job done.

The next set of easy exits is for the bulk of those RPC and NFS sites.

Dynamic linking has its downside, but like most good ideas, its disadvantages turn out to be the same as its benefits. For certain, dynamic linking means that a working system can be silently wrecked by installing an application with an incompatible version of some library. But that same feature gets us out of trouble here -- if ever there was a library to link dynamically, glibc -- stable and ubiquitous -- is it.

Distributors that have published fixes are typically offering the updated library itself and perhaps some NFS daemons. Since most applications use dynamic linking with glibc, replacing that library is sufficient to close the vulnerability. For most sites, updating glibc is all that is required.

Everybody left counts as a programmer or a builder. Programmers will know whether they have a problem. The rest of us -- call us naive builders -- are the ones with the problem. It's here that we have to fall back on the safe course. If we truly can't tell whether we're using the XDR functions or static linking then, finally, it's time to rebuild and reinstall our applications.

Comments (3 posted)

New vulnerabilities

bonsai: multiple vulnerabilites

Package(s):bonsai CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0152 CAN-2003-0153 CAN-2003-0154 CAN-2003-0155
Created:March 21, 2003 Updated:March 26, 2003
Description: Remi Perrot fixed several security related bugs in bonsai, the Mozilla CVS query tool by web interface. Vulnerabilities include arbitrary code execution, cross-site scripting and access to configuration parameters.

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project identifies the following problems:

  • CAN-2003-0152 - Remote execution of arbitrary commands as www-data

  • CAN-2003-0153 - Absolute path disclosure

  • CAN-2003-0154 - Cross site scriptiong attacks

  • CAN-2003-0155 - Unauthenticated access to parameters page
Alerts:
Debian DSA-265-1 2003-03-21

Comments (none posted)

delegate - remote code execution vulnerability

Package(s):delegate CVE #(s):
Created:March 20, 2003 Updated:March 26, 2003
Description: According to a SNS security advisory, a remote code execution vulnerability exists in the application level gateway DeleGate version 8.4.0 and earlier. Fetching a large robots.txt file through DeleGate HTTP proxy could result in a buffer overflow.
Alerts:
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2003.023 2003-03-19

Comments (none posted)

evolution: multiple vulnerabilities

Package(s):Evolution CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0128 CAN-2003-0129 CAN-2003-0130
Created:March 21, 2003 Updated:May 14, 2003
Description: Multiple vulnerabilities have been found in Ximian's Evolution Mail User Agent, according to this CoreLabs advisory. "Three vulnerabilities were found that could lead to various forms of exploitation ranging from denying to users the ability to read email, provoke system unstability, bypassing security context checks for email content and possibly execution of arbitrary commands on vulnerable systems."

Ximian Evolution is a personal and workgroup information management solution for Linux and UNIX-based systems. The software integrates email, calendaring, meeting scheduling, contact management, and task lists, in one application.

Alerts:
Conectiva CLA-2003:648 2003-05-14
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:045 2003-04-15
Yellow Dog YDU-20030409-2 2003-04-09
Red Hat RHSA-2003:108-03 2003-03-31
Red Hat RHSA-2003:108-02 2003-03-24
Gentoo 200303-18 2003-03-21
Red Hat RHSA-2003:108-01 2003-03-21

Comments (1 posted)

glibc: integer overflow in the xdrmem_getbytes() function

Package(s):glibc krb5 dietlibc CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0028
Created:March 21, 2003 Updated:May 27, 2003
Description: An integer overflow in the xdrmem_getbytes() function, and possibly other functions, of XDR (external data representation) libraries derived from SunRPC, including libnsl, libc, and glibc, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via certain integer values in length fields See CAN-2003-0028 and CERT advisory CA-2003-10 for more information.
Alerts:
SuSE SuSE-SA:2003:027 2003-05-26
Slackware ssa:2003-141-03 2003-05-22
Conectiva CLA-2003:639 2003-05-05
Conectiva CLA-2003:633 2003-04-30
Immunix IMNX-2003-7+-009-01 2003-04-14
Debian DSA-282-1 2003-04-09
Gentoo 200303-29 2003-03-31
Debian DSA-272-1 2003-03-28
Trustix 2003-0014 2003-03-26
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:037 2003-03-25
Gentoo 200303-22 2003-03-25
Debian DSA-266-1 2003-03-17
Red Hat RHSA-2003:089-00 2003-03-19
Sorcerer SORCERER2003-03-20-2 2003-03-20
Sorcerer SORCERER2003-03-20-1 2003-03-20
EnGarde ESA-20030321-010 2003-03-21
SCO Group CSSA-2003-013.0 2003-03-19

Comments (3 posted)

ircii: buffer overflow vulnerability

Package(s):ircii CVE #(s):
Created:March 20, 2003 Updated:April 22, 2003
Description: Timo Sirainen audited ircII based clients (see this Bugtraq post) and found some buffer overflow vulnerabilities in ircii-20020912.
Alerts:
Debian DSA-291-1 2003-04-22
Gentoo 200303-21 2003-03-24
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2003.024 2003-03-19

Comments (none posted)

kerberos - cryptographic weakness

Package(s):kerberos, heimdal, openafs CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0138 CAN-2003-0139
Created:March 26, 2003 Updated:May 27, 2003
Description: Version 4 of the Kerberos protocol contains a cryptographic weakness which enables a chosen-plaintext attack. A suitably equipped attacker can impersonate any principal in the realm. Another weakness allows the creation of false Kerberos tickets. Given the weaknesses in the cryptography, cross-realm authentication cannot be performed in a secure way.

OpenAFS kaserver implements version 4 of the Kerberos protocol, and therefore is also vulnerable.

Alerts:
Gentoo 200305-09 2003-05-27
Debian DSA-269-2 2003-04-09
Immunix IMNX-2003-7+-007-01 2003-04-07
Red Hat RHSA-2003:091-01 2003-04-02
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:043 2003-04-01
Gentoo 200303-28 2003-03-31
Gentoo 200303-26 2003-03-30
Debian DSA-273-1 2003-03-28
Red Hat RHSA-2003:051-01 2003-03-26
Debian DSA-269-1 2003-03-26

Comments (none posted)

mutt: buffer overflow in IMAP client code

Package(s):mutt CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0140
Created:March 21, 2003 Updated:April 22, 2003
Description: Core Security Technologies has found a remotely exploitable buffer overflow in mutt's IMAP client code. This Bugtraq post contains additional information.

The problem has been fixed in Mutt 1.4.1 (stable) and 1.5.4 (unstable).

Alerts:
Conectiva CLA-2003:630 2003-04-22
Conectiva CLA-2003:626 2003-04-14
Debian DSA-274-2 2003-04-07
Red Hat RHSA-2003:109-03 2003-04-03
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:041 2003-04-01
Slackware sl-1049141887 2003-03-31
Slackware sl-1049038131 2003-03-30
Debian DSA-274-1 2003-03-28
Debian DSA-268-1 2003-03-25
Gentoo 200303-19 2003-03-22
SuSE SuSE-SA:2003:020 2003-03-24
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2003.025 2003-03-20

Comments (none posted)

Updated vulnerabilities

apcupsd - remote root vulnerability and buffer overflows

Package(s):apcupsd CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0098 CAN-2003-0099
Created:February 24, 2003 Updated:April 3, 2003
Description: From the MandrakeSoft advisory:

A remote root vulnerability in slave setups and some buffer overflows in the network information server code were discovered by the apcupsd developers. They have been fixed in the latest unstable version, 3.10.5 which contains additional enhancements like USB support, and the latest stable version, 3.8.6.

There are a few changes that need to be noted, such as the port has changed from port 7000 to post 3551 for NIS, and the new config only allows access from the localhost. Users may need to modify their configuration files appropriately, depending upon their configuration.

Alerts:
Debian DSA-277-1 2003-04-03
SuSE SuSE-SA:2003:022 2003-03-26
SCO Group CSSA-2003-015.0 2003-03-25
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:018 2003-02-18
Gentoo 200302-13 2003-02-24

Comments (none posted)

Heap corruption vulnerability in at

Package(s):at at, sudo, xchat CVE #(s):CAN-2002-0004
Created:May 20, 2002 Updated:May 15, 2003
Description: The at command has a potentially exploitable heap corruption bug. (First LWN report:  January 17th).
Alerts:
EnGarde ESA-20030515-015 2003-05-15
Yellow Dog YDU-20020127-9 2002-01-27
SuSE SuSE-SA:2002:003 2001-01-16
Slackware sl-1011706104 2002-01-22
Red Hat RHSA-2002:015-15 2002-02-07
Red Hat RHSA-2002:015-13 2002-01-22
Mandrake MDKSA-2002:007 2002-01-18
Debian DSA-102-2 2002-01-18
Debian DSA-102-1 2002-01-16

Comments (none posted)

bind buffer overflow vulnerability in DNS resolver libraries

Package(s):bind glibc CVE #(s):CAN-2002-0651 CAN-2002-0684
Created:July 8, 2002 Updated:September 30, 2003
Description: The BIND 4.9.8-OW2 patch and BIND 4.9.9 release (and thus 4.9.9-OW1) include fixes for a libc related vulnerability which does not affect Linux. Updates from the Internet Software Consortium (ISC) are available from here.

No release or branch of Openwall GNU/*/Linux (Owl) is known to be affected, due to Olaf Kirch's fixes for this problem getting into the GNU C library more than two years ago.

Unfortunatly that does not mean that Linux systems are not vulnerable. Similar code, without Olaf Firch's fixes, is in the glibc getnetbyXXX functions. These functions are described in the SuSE alert as " used by very few applications only, such as ifconfig and ifuser, which makes exploits less likely."

CERT Advisory: CA-2002-19 Buffer Overflow in Multiple DNS Resolver Libraries

CAN-2002-0651
CAN-2002-0684

Alerts:
Mandrake MDKSA-2002:050 2002-08-13
Yellow Dog YDU-20020810-3 2002-08-10
Eridani ERISA-2002:035 2002-08-09
Red Hat RHSA-2002:133-13 2002-08-08
SCO Group CSSA-2002-034.0 2002-08-05
Yellow Dog YDU-20020801-2 2002-08-01
Eridani ERISA-2002:028 2002-07-25
Red Hat RHSA-2002:139-10 2002-07-22
EnGarde ESA-20020724-018 2002-07-24
Mandrake MDKSA-2002:043 2002-07-16
Trustix 2002-0061 2002-07-15
Gentoo glibc-20020713 2002-07-13
Conectiva CLA-2002:507 2002-07-11
SuSE SuSE-SA:2002:026 2002-07-09
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2002.006 2002-07-04

Comments (1 posted)

BitchX - denial of service

Package(s):BitchX CVE #(s):
Created:February 20, 2003 Updated:May 26, 2003
Description: From this Bugtraq posting:

A denial of service vulnerability exists in BitchX. Sending a malformed RPL_NAMREPLY numeric 353 causes BitchX to segfault. This problem was reported to panasync@efnet#bitchx on Jan 30 2003, as of this writing we are unaware of any patches or workarounds provided by panasync and or any members of #bitchx

Alerts:
Conectiva CLA-2003:655 2003-05-26
Slackware ssa:2003-141-02 2003-05-22
Debian DSA-306-1 2003-05-19
Gentoo 200302-11 2003-02-20

Comments (none posted)

Canna server: exploitable buffer overrun

Package(s):canna CVE #(s):CAN-2002-1158 CAN-2002-1159
Created:December 10, 2002 Updated:September 30, 2003
Description: Canna is a kana-kanji conversion server which is necessary for Japanese language character input.

A buffer overflow bug in the Canna server up to and including version 3.5b2 allows a local user to gain the privileges of the user 'bin' which could lead to further exploits. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2002-1158 to this issue.

A lack of validation of requests has been found that affects Canna version 3.6 and earlier. A malicious remote user could exploit this vulnerability to leak information, or cause a denial of service attack. (CAN-2002-1159)

See also http://canna.sourceforge.jp/sec/Canna-2002-01.txt

CAN-2002-1158
CAN-2002-1159

Alerts:
SCO Group CSSA-2003-005.0 2003-01-21
Debian DSA-224-1 2002-01-08
Gentoo 200212-8 2002-12-20
Red Hat RHSA-2002:246-18 2002-12-04

Comments (none posted)

CVS - exploitable double-free bug in the CVS server

Package(s):cvs CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0015
Created:January 20, 2003 Updated:April 7, 2003
Description: CVS is a version control system frequently used to manage source code repositories. During an audit of the CVS sources, Stefan Esser discovered an exploitable double-free bug in the CVS server.

On servers which are configured to allow anonymous read-only access, this bug could be used by anonymous users to gain write privileges. Users with CVS write privileges can then use the Update-prog and Checkin-prog features to execute arbitrary commands on the server.

All users of CVS are advised to upgrade to erratum packages which contain patches to correct the double-free bug.

See also this CERT advisory

Alerts:
Immunix IMNX-2003-7+-004-01 2003-04-02
SCO Group CSSA-2003-006.0 2003-01-31
Yellow Dog YDU-20030127-6 2003-01-27
Conectiva CLA-2003:561 2003-01-23
SuSE SuSE-SA:2003:0007 2003-01-22
Slackware sl-1043242333 2003-01-22
Conectiva CLA-2003:560 2003-01-21
Debian DSA-233-1 2003-01-21
Gentoo 200301-12 2003-01-21
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2003.004 2003-01-21
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:009 2003-01-20
Red Hat RHSA-2003:012-07 2003-01-20

Comments (none posted)

dhcp3 - ignored counter boundary

Package(s):dhcp3 CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0039
Created:January 28, 2003 Updated:April 4, 2003
Description: Florian Lohoff discovered a bug in the dhcrelay causing it to send a continuing packet storm towards the configured DHCP server(s) in case of a malicious BOOTP packet, such as sent from buggy Cisco switches.

When the dhcp-relay receives a BOOTP request it forwards the request to the DHCP server using the broadcast MAC address ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff which causes the network interface to reflect the packet back into the socket. To prevent loops the dhcrelay checks whether the relay-address is its own, in which case the packet would be dropped. In combination with a missing upper boundary for the hop counter an attacker can force the dhcp-relay to send a continuing packet storm towards the configured dhcp server(s).

This patch introduces a new commandline switch ``-c maxcount'' and people are advised to start the dhcp-relay with ``dhcrelay -c 10'' or a smaller number, which will only create that many packets.

The dhcrelay program from the ``dhcp'' package does not seem to be affected since DHCP packets are dropped if they were apparently relayed already.

Alerts:
Conectiva CLA-2003:616 2003-04-04
Red Hat RHSA-2003:034-01 2003-03-31
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2003.012 2003-02-19
Debian DSA-245-1 2003-01-28

Comments (none posted)

dvips: command execution vulnerability

Package(s):dvips CVE #(s):CAN-2002-0836
Created:October 16, 2002 Updated:June 10, 2003
Description: The dvips utility uses the system() function improperly when managing fonts. An attacker who can craft the right sort of print job can use this vulnerability to execute commands under the UID used by the print system.
Alerts:
Immunix IMNX-2003-7+-016-01 2003-06-09
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2002.015 2002-12-16
Debian DSA-207-1 2002-12-11
Conectiva CLA-2002:537 2002-10-29
Mandrake MDKSA-2002:071 2002-10-24
Mandrake MDKSA-2002:070 2002-10-23
Gentoo tetex-20021018 2002-10-18
Red Hat RHSA-2002:194-18 2002-10-08

Comments (none posted)

ethereal - format string vulnerability

Package(s):ethereal CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0081
Created:March 10, 2003 Updated:June 12, 2003
Description: The SOCKS dissector in Ethereal 0.9.9 is susceptible to a format string overflow. This vulnerability has been present in Ethereal since the SOCKS dissector was introduced in version 0.8.7. It was discovered by Georgi Guninski. Additionally, the NTLMSSP code is susceptible to a heap overflow. All users of Ethereal 0.9.9 and below are encouraged to upgrade. See the full advisory for additional information.
Alerts:
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:051 2003-03-24
Red Hat RHSA-2003:076-01 2003-04-23
Conectiva CLA-2003:627 2003-04-16
SuSE SuSE-SA:2003:019 2003-03-21
Debian DSA-258-1 2003-03-10
Gentoo 200303-10 2003-03-09

Comments (none posted)

Filename disclosure vulnerability in fam

Package(s):fam CVE #(s):CAN-2002-0875
Created:August 19, 2002 Updated:January 5, 2005
Description: "fam" (file alteration monitor) watches files and directories for changes and lets interested applications know when something happens. This package has a flaw in its group handling that blocks some legitimate operations while, at the same time, exposing the names of files that should otherwise be invisible.
Alerts:
Red Hat RHSA-2005:005-01 2005-01-05
Debian DSA-154-1 2002-08-15

Comments (none posted)

fetchmail: buffer overflow

Package(s):fetchmail CVE #(s):CAN-2002-1365
Created:December 17, 2002 Updated:October 20, 2003
Description: Versions of fetchmail prior to 6.2.0 have (yet another) buffer overflow vulnerability which can be exploited remotely via a suitably crafted message. See this advisory for details.
Alerts:
Immunix IMNX-2003-7+-023-01 2003-10-17
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:011 2003-01-27
EnGarde ESA-20030127-002 2003-01-27
SCO Group CSSA-2003-001.0 2003-01-09
SuSE SuSE-SA:2003:001 2003-01-02
Debian DSA-216-1 2002-12-24
Red Hat RHSA-2002:293-09 2002-12-17
Conectiva CLA-2002:554 2002-12-16

Comments (3 posted)

file - memory allocation problem, stack overflow

Package(s):file CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0102
Created:March 4, 2003 Updated:June 4, 2003
Description: Jeff Johnson found a memory allocation problem and David Endler found a stack overflow corruption problem in the file "Automatic File Content Type Recognition Tool" version 3.41. Nalin Dahyabhai improved ELF section and program header handling in file version 3.40. The folks at OpenPKG believe that file versions without those modifications are vulnerable to memory allocation and stack overflow problems which put security at risk.
Alerts:
Immunix IMNX-2003-7+-012-01 2003-06-03
SCO Group CSSA-2003-018.0 2003-04-28
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:030-1 2003-04-17
Conectiva CLA-2003:617 2003-04-04
SuSE SuSE-SA:2003:017 2003-03-21
Debian DSA-260-1 2003-03-13
Gentoo 200303-8 2003-03-08
EnGarde ESA-20030307-008 2003-03-07
Red Hat RHSA-2003:086-07 2003-03-07
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:030 2003-03-06
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2003.017 2003-03-04

Comments (none posted)

GNU fileutils race condition

Package(s):fileutils ucdsnmp CVE #(s):CAN-2002-0435
Created:May 20, 2002 Updated:May 16, 2003
Description: A race condition in rm may cause the root user to delete the whole filesystem. The problem exists in the version of rm in fileutils 4.1 stable and 4.1.6 development version. A patch is available. (First LWN report: May 2).
Alerts:
Immunix IMNX-2003-7+-010-01 2003-05-16
Red Hat RHSA-2003:015-05 2003-02-12
Trustix 2002-0052 2002-06-06
SuSE SuSE-SA:2002:012 2002-04-08
Mandrake MDKSA-2002:031 2002-05-16
SCO Group CSSA-2002-018.1 2002-05-13

Comments (none posted)

Potential remote root exploit in glibc

Package(s):glibc CVE #(s):CAN-2002-0391
Created:August 14, 2002 Updated:June 29, 2003
Description: Felix von Leitner, discovered a potential division by zero bug in code derived from the SunRPC library which is used in glibc.This bug could be exploited to gain unauthorized root access to software linking to glibc.

Updating as soon as practical is a good idea.

Because SunRPC-derived XDR libraries are used by a variety of vendors in a variety of applications, this defect may lead to a number of differing security problems. Exploiting this vulnerability will lead to denial of service, execution of arbitrary code, or the disclosure of sensitive information.

CERT/CC Vulnerability Note VU#192995 Integer overflow in xdr_array() function when deserializing the XDR stream

Alerts:
Debian DSA-333-1 2003-06-27
Conectiva CLA-2002:535 2002-10-29
Trustix 2002-0070 2002-10-17
EnGarde ESA-20021003-021 2002-10-03
Gentoo glibc-20020927 2002-09-27
Gentoo dietlibc-20020927 2002-09-27
Debian DSA-149-2 2002-09-26
Mandrake MDKSA-2002:061 2002-09-23
Gentoo glibc-20020905 2002-09-05
SuSE SuSE-SA:2002:031 2002-08-30
Trustix 2002-0067 2002-08-13
Eridani ERISA-2002:036 2002-08-13
Red Hat RHSA-2002:166-07 2002-08-12
Debian DSA-149-1 2002-08-13

Comments (none posted)

glibc: DNS stub resolvers contain buffer overflow vulnerability

Package(s):glibc CVE #(s):CAN-2002-1146
Created:November 7, 2002 Updated:February 5, 2004
Description: DNS stub resolvers from multiple vendors contain a buffer overflow vulnerability. The impact of this vulnerability appears to be limited to denial of service. (See CERT Vulnerability Note VU#738331)

The BIND 4 and BIND 8.2.x stub resolver libraries, and other libraries such as glibc 2.2.5 and earlier, libc, and libresolv, uses the maximum buffer size instead of the actual size when processing a DNS response, which causes the stub resolvers to read past the actual boundary ("read buffer overflow"), allowing remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash).

Alerts:
Mandrake MDKSA-2004:009 2004-02-04
Red Hat RHSA-2002:197-09 2002-11-06
Red Hat RHSA-2002:197-06 2002-10-03

Comments (none posted)

IMP - SQL injection vulnerability

Package(s):imp CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0025
Created:January 15, 2003 Updated:July 8, 2003
Description: The IMP IMAP server, versions 2.2.8 and prior, is vulnerable to SQL injection; see this advisory for details. Version 3.x is not vulnerable to this problem.
Alerts:
Conectiva CLA-2003:690 2003-07-08
SuSE SuSE-SA:2003:0008 2003-02-18
Debian DSA-229-2 2003-01-15

Comments (1 posted)

kernel - ptrace-related vulnerability

Package(s):kernel CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0127
Created:March 17, 2003 Updated:June 30, 2003
Description: Versions 2.2.x and 2.4.x of the Linux kernel contain a vulnerability in ptrace() which may be exploited by a local user to obtain root access. This announcement contains the details and a patch for 2.4.20. For 2.2 users, 2.2.25 has been released which contains the fix.
Alerts:
Debian DSA-336-2 2003-06-29
Debian DSA-336-1 2003-06-29
Debian DSA-332-1 2003-06-27
Red Hat RHSA-2003:098-03 2003-06-02
SCO Group CSSA-2003-020.0 2003-05-09
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:038-1 2003-04-09
Red Hat RHSA-2003:135-00 2003-04-08
Conectiva CLA-2003:618 2003-04-07
Debian DSA-276-1 2003-04-03
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:039 2003-03-27
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:038 2003-03-27
Debian DSA-270-1 2003-03-27
SuSE SuSE-SA:2003:021 2003-03-25
Gentoo 200303-17 2003-03-21
Sorcerer SORCERER2003-03-19 2003-03-20
Red Hat RHSA-2003:088-01 2003-03-20
EnGarde ESA-20030318-009 2003-03-18
Trustix 2003-0007 2003-03-18
Red Hat RHSA-2003:098-00 2003-03-17

Comments (none posted)

kernel-utils: setuid vulnerability

Package(s):kernel-utils CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0019
Created:February 7, 2003 Updated:January 21, 2005
Description: The kernel-utils package contains several utilities that can be used to control the kernel or machine hardware. In Red Hat Linux 8.0 this package contains user mode linux (UML) utilities.

The uml_net utility in kernel-utils packages with Red Hat Linux 8.0 was incorrectly shipped setuid root. This could allow local users to control certain network interfaces, add and remove arp entries and routes, and put interfaces in and out of promiscuous mode.

All users of the kernel-utils package should update to these packages that contain a version of uml_net that is not setuid root.

Alternatively, as a work-around to this vulnerability issue the following command as root:

chmod -s /usr/bin/uml_net

Alerts:
Red Hat RHSA-2003:056-08 2003-02-07

Comments (none posted)

libpng, libpng3: buffer overflow

Package(s):libpng, libpng3 CVE #(s):CAN-2002-1363
Created:December 19, 2002 Updated:July 14, 2004
Description: Glenn Randers-Pehrson discovered a problem in connection with 16-bit samples from libpng, an interface for reading and writing PNG (Portable Network Graphics) format files. The starting offsets for the loops are calculated incorrectly which causes a buffer overrun beyond the beginning of the row buffer.
Alerts:
Gentoo 200407-06 2004-07-08
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2004.030 2004-07-06
Mandrake MDKSA-2004:063 2004-06-29
Whitebox WBSA-2004:249-01 2004-06-21
Fedora FEDORA-2004-176 2004-06-18
Fedora FEDORA-2004-174 2004-06-18
Fedora FEDORA-2004-175 2004-06-18
Fedora FEDORA-2004-173 2004-06-18
Red Hat RHSA-2004:249-01 2004-06-18
Conectiva CLA-2003:564 2003-01-23
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:008 2003-01-20
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2003.001 2003-01-15
Yellow Dog YDU-20030114-2 2002-01-14
SuSE SuSE-SA:2003:0004 2003-01-14
Red Hat RHSA-2003:006-06 2003-01-09
Debian DSA-213-1 2002-12-19

Comments (none posted)

lprold - buffer overflow in lprm

Package(s):lprold lpd CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0144
Created:March 13, 2003 Updated:May 28, 2003
Description: The lprm command of the printing package lprold contains a buffer overflow. This buffer overflow can be exploited by a local user, if the printer system is set up correctly, to gain root privileges.
Alerts:
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:059 2003-05-21
Debian DSA-267-2 2003-04-15
Debian DSA-275-1 2003-04-02
Debian DSA-267-1 2003-03-24
SuSE SuSE-SA:2003:0014 2003-03-13

Comments (none posted)

lxr - input validation error

Package(s):lxr CVE #(s):
Created:March 19, 2003 Updated:March 19, 2003
Description: lxr fails to properly sanitize incoming filenames, with the result that an attacker can read arbitrary files on the system.
Alerts:
Debian DSA-264-1 2003-03-19

Comments (none posted)

lynx: CRLF injection vulnerability

Package(s):lynx CVE #(s):CAN-2002-1405
Created:November 19, 2002 Updated:September 30, 2003
Description: If lynx is given a url with some special characters on the command line, it will include faked headers in the HTTP query. This feature can be used to force scripts (that use Lynx for downloading files) to access the wrong site on a web server with multiple virtual hosts.

CAN-2002-1405

Alerts:
Conectiva CLA-2003:720 2003-08-11
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:023 2003-02-24
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2003.011 2003-02-18
Red Hat RHSA-2003:029-06 2003-02-12
Trustix 2002-0085 2002-12-19
Debian DSA-210-1 2002-12-13
SCO Group CSSA-2002-049.0 2002-11-18

Comments (none posted)

perl-MailTools: remote command execution

Package(s):MailTools CVE #(s):CAN-2002-1271
Created:November 5, 2002 Updated:September 19, 2003
Description: The SuSE Security Team reviewed critical Perl modules, including the Mail::Mailer package. This package contains a security hole which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands in certain circumstances. This is due to the usage of mailx as default mailer which allows commands to be embedded in the mail body.

Note that mail processing programs which use this package can be affected by this vulnerability; in particular, SpamAssassin is vulnerable if you use the -r or -w flags.

Alerts:
Debian DSA-386-1 2003-09-18
Gentoo 200302-01 2003-02-02
Mandrake MDKSA-2002:076 2002-11-07
Gentoo 200211-001 2002-11-06
SuSE SuSE-SA:2002:041 2002-11-05

Comments (none posted)

man - code execution vulnerability

Package(s):man CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0124
Created:March 19, 2003 Updated:May 7, 2003
Description: Versions of man prior to 1.51 contain a code execution vulnerability which can be exploited by a carefully crafted man file. See this advisory for the details.
Alerts:
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:054 2003-05-06
Red Hat RHSA-2003:133-01 2001-03-05
Conectiva CLA-2003:620 2003-04-07
Gentoo 200303-13 2003-03-18

Comments (none posted)

micq: Denial of service

Package(s):micq CVE #(s):
Created:December 13, 2002 Updated:April 24, 2003
Description: Rüdiger Kuhlmann, upstream developer of mICQ, a text based ICQ client, discovered a problem in mICQ. Receiving certain ICQ message types that do not contain the required 0xFE seperator causes all versions to crash.
Alerts:
Red Hat RHSA-2003:118-01 2003-04-24
Debian DSA-211-1 2002-12-13

Comments (none posted)

MySQL: multiple vulnerabilities

Package(s):mysql CVE #(s):
Created:December 13, 2002 Updated:April 10, 2003
Description: The MySQL database server has several buffer overflow and integer bounds checking vulnerabilities which can lead to denial of service attacks, and, possibily, remote code execution. See this e-matters advisory for details. Version 3.23.54 fixes the problems.
Alerts:
Immunix IMNX-2003-7+-008-01 2003-04-08
EnGarde ESA-20030127-001 2003-01-27
Red Hat RHSA-2002:288-22 2003-01-15
SuSE SuSE-SA:2003:003 2003-01-02
Trustix 2002-0086 2002-12-19
Mandrake MDKSA-2002:087 2002-12-18
Debian DSA-212-1 2002-12-17
Conectiva CLA-2002:555 2002-12-17
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2002.013 2002-12-16
Gentoo 200212-2 2002-12-15
EnGarde ESA-20021213-033 2002-12-13

Comments (none posted)

mysql - configuration file vulnerability

Package(s):mysql mysqld CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0150
Created:March 18, 2003 Updated:May 16, 2003
Description: According to a report on BugTraq, a vulnerability exists in version 3.23.55 and earlier versions of the MySQL server. If the MySQL server is launched by root, as it is often done by system startup scripts, any database users with the "FILE" privilege can write a configuration file (usually my.cnf) that causes the MySQL server to run under an arbitrary user id, including the user id of the super-user, on the next restart.
Alerts:
Debian DSA-303-1 2003-05-15
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:057 2003-05-14
Red Hat RHSA-2003:093-02 2002-03-05
Red Hat RHSA-2003:093-01 2003-04-29
EnGarde ESA-20030324-012 2003-03-24
Gentoo 200303-14 2003-03-18
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2003.022 2003-03-18
Trustix 2003-0009 2003-03-18

Comments (none posted)

nethack: buffer overflow

Package(s):nethack, slashem, falconseye CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0358 CAN-2003-0359
Created:February 18, 2003 Updated:July 15, 2003
Description: Overflowing a buffer in nethack may lead to privilege escalation to games uid.

Read the the full advisory for the details.

Note that falconseye does not contain the file permission error CAN-2003-0359 which affected some other nethack packages.

Alerts:
Debian DSA-350-1 2003-07-15
Debian DSA-316-3 2003-06-17
Debian DSA-316-2 2003-06-11
Debian DSA-316-1 2003-06-11
Gentoo 200302-08 2003-02-18

Comments (none posted)

NetPBM: math overflow errors

Package(s):NetPBM CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0146
Created:March 17, 2003 Updated:May 27, 2003
Description: Al Viro and Alan Cox discovered several maths overflow errors in NetPBM, a set of graphics conversion tools. These programs are not installed setuid root but are often installed to prepare data for processing. These vulnerabilities may allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service or execute arbitrary code.
Alerts:
Conectiva CLA-2003:656 2003-05-27
Red Hat RHSA-2003:060-01 2003-04-03
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:036 2003-03-25
Debian DSA-263-1 2003-03-17

Comments (none posted)

netscape-flash: buffer overflow

Package(s):netscape-flash CVE #(s):
Created:March 10, 2003 Updated:June 20, 2003
Description: Potentially exploitable buffer overflows exist in the Macromedia Flash Player. The full advisory is here. "The cumulative security patch is available today and addresses the potential for exploits surrounding buffer overflows (read/write) and sandbox integrity within the player, which might allow malicious users to gain access to a user's computer. The possibility of running native code on a users machine is a theoretical exploit, and extremely difficult to execute in practice. There are no known examples of running such native code from Macromedia Flash movies; however, even though this issue is difficult and theoretical in nature only, we are encouraging users to upgrade."
Alerts:
Red Hat RHSA-2003:026-01 2003-06-20
Gentoo 200303-9 2003-03-09

Comments (none posted)

net-snmp: denial of service vulnerability

Package(s):net-snmp CVE #(s):CAN-2002-1170
Created:December 17, 2002 Updated:November 7, 2003
Description: The SNMP daemon included in the Net-SNMP package versions 5.0.1 through 5.0.4 can be caused to crash if it is sent a specially crafted packet.
Alerts:
Conectiva CLA-2003:778 2003-11-07
Red Hat RHSA-2002:228-11 2002-12-17

Comments (none posted)

openssl: local and remote extraction of RSA private key

Package(s):openssl, apache, mod_ssl CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0147
Created:March 18, 2003 Updated:May 22, 2003
Description: David Brumley and Dan Boneh of Stanford University have researched and documented a timing attack on OpenSSL which allows local and remote attackers to extract the RSA private key of a server. The OpenSSL RSA implementation is generally vulnerable to these type of attacks unless RSA blinding has been turned on. See this paper (pdf format) for additional details.

Typically, RSA blinding is not enabled by OpenSSL based applications, mainly because it is not obvious how to do so when using OpenSSL to provide SSL/TLS. This problem affects mostly all applications using OpenSSL and have to be rebuilded against the fixed OpenSSL version (where RSA blinding is now enabled by default) or have to enable RSA blinding explicitly their own.

The performance impact of RSA blinding appears to be small (a few percent only) and the RSA functionality is still fully compatible. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project assigned the id CAN-2003-0147 to the problem.

Alerts:
Slackware ssa:2003-141-05 2003-05-22
Debian DSA-288-1 2003-04-17
Conectiva CLA-2003:625 2003-04-10
SuSE SuSE-SA:2003:024 2003-04-04
Red Hat RHSA-2003:101-01 2003-04-01
Immunix IMNX-2003-7+-001-01 2003-03-26
Trustix 2003-0013 2003-03-26
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:035 2003-03-25
Gentoo 200303-24 2003-03-25
Gentoo 200303-23 2003-03-25
Gentoo 200303-20 2003-03-24
SCO Group CSSA-2003-014.0 2003-03-21
Sorcerer SORCERER2003-03-21-0 2003-03-21
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2003.026 2003-03-20
EnGarde ESA-20030320-010 2003-03-20
Gentoo 200303-15 2003-03-20
Trustix 2003-0010 2003-03-18
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2003.020 2003-03-18
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2003.019 2003-03-18

Comments (none posted)

pam_xauth: root exploit

Package(s):pam_xauth CVE #(s):CAN-2002-1160
Created:February 13, 2003 Updated:July 10, 2003
Description: The pam_xauth module is used to forward xauth information from user to user in applications such as 'su'.

Andreas Beck discovered that versions of pam_xauth supplied with Red Hat Linux since version 7.1 would forward authorization information from the root account to unprivileged users. This could be used by a local attacker to gain access to an administrator's X session. In order to exploit this vulnerability, the attacker would have to get the administrator, as root, to use su to the account belonging to the attacker.

Alerts:
Conectiva CLA-2003:693 2003-07-10
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:017-1 2003-04-28
Red Hat RHSA-2003:035-10 2003-02-12

Comments (none posted)

PHP: vulnerability in mail function

Package(s):php CVE #(s):CAN-2002-0985 CAN-2002-0986
Created:November 13, 2002 Updated:September 30, 2003
Description: Two vulnerabilities exists in the mail() PHP function. The first one allows the execution of any program/script bypassing safe_mode restriction, the second one may give an open-relay script if the mail() function is not carefully used in PHP scripts. See this Bugtraq report for more details. Note that this is a different vulnerability than the previous PHP mail() problem, which affected versions through 4.1.0.

CAN-2002-0985
CAN-2002-0986

Alerts:
SCO Group CSSA-2003-008.0 2003-03-04
Gentoo 200211-005 2002-11-20
EnGarde ESA-20021122-031 2002-11-22
Conectiva CLA-2002:545 2002-11-13
Red Hat RHSA-2002:213-06 2002-11-11

Comments (none posted)

PostgreSQL - more buffer overflows

Package(s):postgresql CVE #(s):
Created:February 12, 2003 Updated:November 7, 2003
Description: A new set of buffer overflows has been discovered in PostgreSQL 7.2.2; they affect the circle_poly(), path_encode(), and path_addr() functions. Exploiting these overflows requires that the attacker first obtain a connection to the PostgreSQL server.
Alerts:
Debian DSA-397-1 2003-11-07
Immunix IMNX-2003-7+-005-01 2003-04-08
Trustix 2003-0004 2003-02-20
Mandrake MDKSA-2002:062-1 2003-02-11

Comments (1 posted)

Local arbitrary code execution vulnerability in Python

Package(s):python CVE #(s):CAN-2002-1119
Created:August 28, 2002 Updated:September 30, 2003
Description: Zack Weinberg discovered that os._execvpe from os.py uses a predictable name which could lead to execution of arbitrary code. According to the Debian advisory, the problem was present in Python versions 1.5, 2.1 and 2.2.

CAN-2002-1119

Alerts:
Red Hat RHSA-2002:202-33 2003-02-12
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2003.006 2003-01-23
Red Hat RHSA-2002:202-25 2003-01-21
Mandrake MDKSA-2002:082-1 2002-12-09
Mandrake MDKSA-2002:082 2002-11-25
SCO Group CSSA-2002-045.0 2002-11-14
Trustix 2002-0073 2002-10-17
Gentoo python-20021003 2002-10-03
Conectiva CLA-2002:527 2002-10-01
Debian DSA-159-2 2002-09-09
Debian DSA-159-1 2002-08-28

Comments (none posted)

qpopper - buffer overflow

Package(s):qpopper CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0143
Created:March 12, 2003 Updated:March 21, 2003
Description: As reported in this advisory, qpopper 4.0.x contains a buffer overflow vulnerability which may be exploited remotely - but only by an attacker possessing a valid username and password.
Alerts:
SuSE SuSE-SA:2003:018 2003-03-21
Gentoo 200303-12 2003-03-17
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2003.018 2003-03-14
Debian DSA-259-1 2003-03-12

Comments (none posted)

rxvt - vulnerabilities in the handling of escape sequences

Package(s):rxvt CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0022 CAN-2003-0023 CAN-2003-0066
Created:March 17, 2003 Updated:March 26, 2003
Description: Rxvt is a color VT102 terminal emulator for the X Window System. A number of issues have been found in the escape sequence handling of Rxvt. These could be potentially exploited if an attacker can cause carefully crafted escape sequences to be displayed on a rxvt terminal being used by their victim.

One of the features which most terminal emulators support is the ability for the shell to set the title of the window using an escape sequence. Certain xterm variants, including rxvt, also provide an escape sequence for reporting the current window title. This essentially takes the current title and places it directly on the command line. Since it is not possible to embed a carriage return into the window title itself, the attacker would have to convince the victim to hit enter for it to process the title as a command, although the attacker can perform a number of actions to increase the likelyhood of this happening.

The "screen dump" feature in rxvt 2.7.8 allows attackers to overwrite arbitrary files via a certain character escape sequence when it is echoed to a user's terminal, e.g. when the user views a file containing the malicious sequence.

The menuBar feature in rxvt 2.7.8 allows attackers to modify menu options and execute arbitrary commands via a certain character escape sequence that inserts the commands into the menu.

Users of Rxvt are advised to upgrade to these errata packages which contain a patch to disable the title reporting functionality and patches to correct the other issues.

Alerts:
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:034 2003-03-25
Gentoo 200303-16 2003-03-20
Red Hat RHSA-2003:054-00 2003-03-17

Comments (none posted)

Multiple-use vulnerability in Safe.pm

Package(s):Safe.pm CVE #(s):CAN-2002-1323
Created:October 9, 2002 Updated:February 20, 2004
Description: usePerl has a description of a vulnerability in the Safe.pm Perl module. It seems that if a Safe compartment is used more than once, it ceases to be safe. The problem is fixed in Safe 2.08.
Alerts:
SCO Group CSSA-2004-007.0 2004-02-20
Gentoo 200212-6 2002-12-20
Trustix 2002-0087 2002-12-19
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2002.014 2002-12-16
Debian DSA-208-1 2002-12-12

Comments (none posted)

samba - exploitable buffer overruns

Package(s):samba CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0085 CAN-2003-0086
Created:March 17, 2003 Updated:April 4, 2003
Description: The SuSE security audit team, in particular Sebastian Krahmer has found a flaw in the Samba main smbd code which could allow an external attacker to remotely and anonymously gain Super User (root) privileges on a server running a Samba server.

This flaw exists in previous versions of Samba from 2.0.x to 2.2.7a inclusive. This is a serious problem and all sites should either upgrade to Samba 2.2.8 immediately or prohibit access to TCP ports 139 and 445. Advice created by Andrew Tridgell, the leader of the Samba Team, on how to protect an unpatched Samba server is given at the end of this section.

The SMB/CIFS protocol implemented by Samba is vulnerable to many attacks, even without specific security holes. The TCP ports 139 and the new port 445 (used by Win2k and the Samba 3.0 alpha code in particular) should never be exposed to untrusted networks.

See this article for more information. Samba-TNG users should update to version 0.3.1.

Alerts:
Conectiva CLA-2003:615 2003-04-04
Immunix IMNX-2003-7+-003-01 2003-03-31
Red Hat RHSA-2003:095-03 2003-04-01
Red Hat RHSA-2003:095-02 2003-03-25
SuSE SuSE-SA:2003:016 2003-03-19
Trustix 2003-0011 2003-03-18
Red Hat RHSA-2003:095-01 2003-03-17
OpenPKG OpenPKG-SA-2003.021 2003-03-18
Sorcerer SORCERER2003-03-17 2003-03-17
Gentoo 200303-11 2003-03-17
Slackware sl-1047827401 2003-03-16
Mandrake MDKSA-2003:032 2003-03-15
Debian DSA-262-1 2003-03-15

Comments (none posted)

slocate - buffer overflow

Package(s):slocate CVE #(s):CAN-2003-0056
Created:February 5, 2003 Updated:May 8, 2003
Description: version 2.6 (at least) of slocate contains a buffer overflow vulnerability which could lead to a local exploit; see this advisory for the details.
Alerts:
Conectiva CLA-2003:643