Security news
Using Linux to secure Microsoft Windows
NAH6 of Amsterdam plans to
develop and sell laptops running Microsoft Windows on top of
Debian GNU/Linux to encrypt all Windows files. The software will
be
"free for noncommercial use."
See the articles in
ZDNet and
News.com for more informaiton.
Comments (none posted)
Feds set to enforce PC security (ZDNet)
Four US Government agencies are putting together some
security benchmark tests for various operating systems.
"
The benchmark is a program that checks the target operating system for unpatched flaws and system settings that could make PCs vulnerable to intrusions or bugs. While the first such benchmark focuses on Windows 2000 workstations, versions of the program for Windows 2000 and NT servers, Sun Microsystems' Solaris operating system, Cisco's IOS router operating system, Linux and HP-UX are in the works."
Comments (none posted)
Online Security Incidents Jump in 2002 (PCWorld.com)
PCWorld.com
considers the implications of
the
1988-2002 CERT/CC Statistics since the recent addition of
the numbers for the second quarter of 2002.
Internet security incidents for the first half of 2002 are up sharply over 2001 and are on pace to substantially exceed last year's figures, according to new statistics released Thursday by the Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center (CERT/CC).
This increase, however, may be due to better reporting and awareness, and not due to substantially increased attack activity, according to a CERT/CC representative.
Comments (none posted)
Scripting flaw threatens Web servers (News.com)
News.com
looks into
recent PHP security vulnerabilities.
"
A flaw found in newer versions of the PHP Web server scripting language could allow attackers to crash, and in some cases control, computers over the Internet, an open-source developer group announced Monday.
The vulnerability affects versions 4.2.0 and 4.2.1 of PHP, according to the PHP Group."
Please also see the LWN.net vulnerability report. In particular, almost every Linux distributor appears
to ship older (and thus not vulnerable) versions of PHP.
Comments (6 posted)
Security reports
SSH Protocol Trick
Sebastian Krahmer has written a paper which describes (
PDF format)
"how SSH clients can be tricked into thinking they are missing the hostkey 2 even though they already have it in their list of known keys." A shorter version of the paper appears in
PHRACK 59.
The paper and exploit program
will be
"uploaded
to 7350.org as soon as the issue has been 'solved' by SSH vendors
and some corrections made it into the text."
Comments (none posted)
Mozilla Javascript cookie stealing vulnerabilty
Andreas Sandblad reports that
Mozilla allows script written in javascript
to steal cookies from other domains. He reports the problem as
fixed in Mozilla 1.1 Beta released 02-07-22. A
Bugzilla entry describing the problem is also available.
Full Story (comments: none)
Mailman cross-site scripting vulnerability
Mailman versions 2.0.11 and prior have
what appears to be an Internet Explorer client
specific cross-site scripting vulnerabilty.
The problem is fixed in
Mailman 2.0.12
which is available from
here.
Full Story (comments: none)
Geeklog XSS and CRLF Injection Vulnerabilities
Ulf Harnhammar reports that Geeklog 1.3.5sr1, and possibly earlier versions,
has a cross site scripting vulnerability and a CRLF Injection hole.
The problems are fixed in
Geeklog 1.3.5sr2.
Geeklog is a 'blog', otherwise known as a Weblog. It allows you to create your own virtual community area, complete with user administration, story posting, messaging, comments, polls, calendar, weblinks, and more! It can run on many different operating systems, and uses PHP4 and MySQL.
Full Story (comments: none)
Pyramid BenHur Firewall leak
The
BenHur Firewall from
Pyramid Solutions has a bug in the active FTP portfilter
ruleset that results in a firewall leak. The problem is fixed in experimental update 067 (19 Jul 2002).
BenHur is a firewall appliance based on Debian Linux using Linux
kernel 2.2.x built-in ipchains firewalling capabilites.
Full Story (comments: none)
New vulnerabilities
PHP Remote Compromise/DOS Vulnerability
| Package(s): | mod_php4 |
CVE #(s): | |
| Created: | July 22, 2002 |
Updated: | February 18, 2003 |
| Description: |
PHP 4.2.0 and 4.2.1 have an error in the handling of POST requests which
can lead to the corruption of memory, and the usual bad consequences. According to this alert, the vulnerability can only be used for denial of service on x86 systems - there is no way to get it to run exploit code. SPARC/Solaris systems are apparently vulnerable to full remote compromise.
According to the CERT Advisory,
almost every Linux distributor, it seems, ships older (and thus not vulnerable) versions of PHP.
Note that, sometimes, systems thought to be safe from remote compromise turn out to be vulnerable to a modified attack, so x86 users should not relax too much. The solution, for those systems with PHP
4.2.0 or 4.2.1 installed,
is to upgrade to PHP 4.2.2.
For more information see the alert from
the discover of the vulnerability, Stefan Esser of e-matters GmbH,
or the security
advisory from the php team.
CERT Advisory: CA-2002-21 Vulnerability in PHP |
| Alerts: |
|
Comments (1 posted)
Updated vulnerabilities
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: |
|
Comments (none posted)
Denial of service vulnerability in version 9 of BIND
| Package(s): | bind |
CVE #(s): | CAN-2002-0400
|
| Created: | June 5, 2002 |
Updated: | August 19, 2002 |
| Description: |
Here is an advisory from the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT)
regarding the denial of service vulnerability in version 9 of the BIND
nameserver, up to 9.2.1. An attacker can send a properly crafted packet
which triggers a check within BIND and causes it to shut down. The
vulnerability can not be exploited for any purpose beyond denial of
service, but that is bad enough; if you are running BIND 9, an upgrade
is probably a good idea.
Note that many or most systems out there will still be running
BIND 8, and thus will not be vulnerable.
News articles on the vulnerability appear in the
Register
and
Network World Fusion News. |
| Alerts: |
|
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: |
|
Comments (1 posted)
Ethereal buffer overflow, infinite loop and memory management vulnerabilities
| Package(s): | ethereal |
CVE #(s): | CAN-2002-0012
CAN-2002-0013
CAN-2002-0353
CAN-2002-0401
CAN-2002-0402
CAN-2002-0403
CAN-2002-0404
|
| Created: | June 12, 2002 |
Updated: | October 27, 2002 |
| Description: |
Ethereal 0.9.4
was released
on May 19, 2002 fixing four potential security issues in Ethereal 0.9.3:
- The SMB dissector could potentially dereference a NULL pointer in two cases.
- The X11 dissector could potentially overflow a buffer while parsing keysyms.
- The DNS dissector could go into an infinite loop while reading a malformed packet.
- The GIOP dissector could potentially allocate large amounts of memory.
No known exploits exist "in the wild" at the present time for any of these issues.
Ethereal 0.9.2 has several packet handling vulnerabilities
that are best avoided by upgrading to 0.9.4.
The PROTOS test
suite found some flaws in SNMP and LDAP protocols support.
Malformed packets could also crash ethereal 0.9.2 due to a
ASN.1 zero-length g_malloc problem.
The zlib "double free" vulnerability
was addressed by the updates for that bug from many distributors. |
| Alerts: |
|
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: |
|
Comments (none posted)
Buffer overflow in groff
| Package(s): | groff |
CVE #(s): | CAN-2002-0003
|
| Created: | May 20, 2002 |
Updated: | December 9, 2002 |
| Description: |
The groff package has a buffer overflow
vulnerability; if it is used with the print system, it is conceivably
exploitable remotely.
|
| Alerts: |
|
Comments (none posted)
UW imapd remotely exploitable buffer overflow
| Package(s): | imap |
CVE #(s): | CAN-2002-0379
|
| Created: | June 5, 2002 |
Updated: | December 20, 2002 |
| Description: |
UW imapd versions 2000c and prior allow remote authenticated users to execute code via a buffer overflow. A malicious user can craft
a request to run commands on the server under their UID and GID.
(First LWN report: May 23). |
| Alerts: |
|
Comments (2 posted)
Apache mod_ssl off-by-one local code execution and DoS vulnerability
| Package(s): | libapache-mod-ssl mod_ssl |
CVE #(s): | CAN-2002-0653
|
| Created: | July 2, 2002 |
Updated: | August 14, 2002 |
| Description: |
Mod-ssl provides strong cryptography for the Apache webserver
via the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).
A maliciously-crafted .htaccess file, may
be used by an attacker to execute arbitrary
commands as the httpd user or launch a denial of service attack.
The problem is fixed in mod_ssl 2.8.10 which is available
from here.
For more information see the announcement. |
| Alerts: |
|
Comments (none posted)
libpng buffer overflow vulnerability
| Package(s): | libpng libpng2 libpng3 |
CVE #(s): | |
| Created: | July 17, 2002 |
Updated: | August 19, 2002 |
| Description: |
Versions of libpng prior to
1.2.4 and 1.0.14 have a buffer
overflow vulnerability that could lead to remote code execution.
Since libpng is used by programs that talk to the outside
world (i.e. mozilla), it is worth upgrading.
libpng is the official PNG reference library. It supports almost all PNG features, is extensible, and has been extensively tested for over five years.
|
| Alerts: |
|
Comments (2 posted)
LPRng accepts jobs from any host.
| Package(s): | LPRng |
CVE #(s): | CAN-2002-0378
|
| Created: | June 12, 2002 |
Updated: | October 31, 2002 |
| Description: |
Matthew Caron pointed out that LPRng's default configuration accepts job submissions from any host.
This could be an especially annoying vulnerability for adminstrators
with systems exposed to the general public.
|
| Alerts: |
|
Comments (none posted)
Mailman 2.0.11 fixes two cross-site scripting vulnerabilities
| Package(s): | mailman |
CVE #(s): | CAN-2002-0388
|
| Created: | June 5, 2002 |
Updated: | August 28, 2002 |
| Description: |
Barry A. Warsaw announced
the release of Mailman 2.0.11
"which fixes two
cross-site scripting exploits, one reported by "office" in the admin
login page, and another reported by Tristan Roddis in the Pipermail
index summaries.
It is recommended that all sites upgrade their 2.0.x systems to this
version."
|
| Alerts: |
|
Comments (none posted)
Mozilla XMLHttpRequest file disclosure vulnerability
| Package(s): | mozilla |
CVE #(s): | CAN-2002-0354
|
| Created: | May 20, 2002 |
Updated: | October 18, 2002 |
| Description: |
This XMLHttpRequest security
bug impacts all Mozilla-based browsers. "The bug is found in versions of
Mozilla from 0.9.7 to 0.9.9 on various operating
system platforms, and in Netscape versions 6.1 and
higher."
(First LWN
report: May 2).
|
| Alerts: |
|
Comments (none posted)
String format bug in pam_ldap logging
| Package(s): | nss_ldap |
CVE #(s): | CAN-2002-0374
|
| Created: | June 5, 2002 |
Updated: | October 29, 2002 |
| Description: |
The nss_ldap package includes the pam_ldap module for
authenticating a user with an LDAP database.
Pam_ldap versions prior to 144 have a string format
bug in the logging mechanism. |
| Alerts: |
|
Comments (none posted)
Remotely exploitable vulnerability in pine
| Package(s): | pine |
CVE #(s): | CAN-2002-0014
|
| Created: | May 20, 2002 |
Updated: | November 27, 2002 |
| Description: |
Pine has an
unpleasant
vulnerability in URL handling vulnerability which can lead to
command execution by remote attackers.
(First LWN report: January 17th).
This vulnerability is remotely exploitable; updating is a good idea.
Note: If an update isn't yet available for your distribution,
setting enable-msg-view-urls to "off" in pine's setup will
avoid the vulnerability. (Thanks to Greg Herlein).
|
| Alerts: |
|
Comments (none posted)
Sharutils potential privilege escalation using uudecode
| Package(s): | sharutils |
CVE #(s): | CAN-2002-0178
|
| Created: | May 20, 2002 |
Updated: | October 30, 2002 |
| Description: |
According to the CVE entry,
"uudecode, as available in the sharutils package before 4.2.1, does not
check whether the filename of the uudecoded file is a pipe or symbolic
link, which could allow attackers to overwrite files or execute commands."
(First LWN
report: May 16).
|
| Alerts: |
|
Comments (none posted)
Multiple vulnerabilities fixed in Squid-2.4.STABLE7
| Package(s): | squid |
CVE #(s): | |
| Created: | July 8, 2002 |
Updated: | November 15, 2002 |
| Description: |
Here is the security advisory for the Squid proxy server reporting several vulnerabilities in versions up to and including 2.4.STABLE7.
Several of the bugs are believed to allow remote code execution.
The security advisory lists the following
changes:
- Several bugfixes and cleanup of the Gopher client, both
to correct some security issues and to make Squid properly
render certain Gopher menus.
- Security fixes in how Squid parses FTP directory listings into
HTML
- FTP data channels are now sanity checked to match the address
of the requested FTP server. This to prevent theft or injection
of data. See the new ftp_sanitycheck directive if this sanity
check is not desired.
- The MSNT auth helper has been updated to v2.0.3+fixes for
buffer overflow security issues found in this helper.
- A security issue in how Squid forwards proxy authentication
credentials has been fixed
|
| Alerts: |
|
Comments (none posted)
Malformed NFS packet buffer overflow vulnerability in tcpdump
| Package(s): | tcpdump |
CVE #(s): | CAN-2002-0380
|
| Created: | June 5, 2002 |
Updated: | October 9, 2002 |
| Description: |
A buffer overflow in tcpdump can be triggered by a bad NFS packet when
tracing the network. Unmodified tcpdump versions 3.6.2 and earlier are vulnerable.
|
| Alerts: |
|
Comments (none posted)
Multiple vendor telnetd vulnerability
| Package(s): | telnet Telnet netkit-telnet-ssl kerberos telnetd netkit-telnet nkitb/nkitserv/telnetd krb5 |
CVE #(s): | |
| Created: | May 20, 2002 |
Updated: | October 5, 2004 |
| Description: |
This vulnerability,
originally thought to be confined to BSD-derived systems, was first covered
in the July 26th Security
Summary. It is now known that Linux telnet daemons are vulnerable as
well.
|
| Alerts: |
|
Comments (none posted)
Multiple vulnerabilities in SNMP implementations
| Package(s): | ucdsnmp ucd-snmp |
CVE #(s): | CAN-2002-0012
CAN-2002-0013
|
| Created: | May 20, 2002 |
Updated: | September 17, 2002 |
| Description: |
Most SNMP
implementations out there have a variety of buffer overflow vulnerabilities
and should be upgraded at first opportunity. See this CERT advisory for more. (First
LWN report: February 14).
|
| Alerts: |
|
Comments (none posted)
webalizer: reverse DNS buffer overflow vulnerability
| Package(s): | webalizer |
CVE #(s): | |
| Created: | May 20, 2002 |
Updated: | January 27, 2003 |
| Description: |
The cause is a buffer overflow bug.
This one sounds nasty.
If reverse DNS lookups are enabled in webalizer,
"an attacker with control over the victims DNS may spoof responses thus
triggering a buffer overflow, potentially leading to a root compromise."
Webalizer 2.01-10 "fixes this and a few
other buglets that have been discovered in the last month or so".
(First LWN report: April 18th, 2002).
|
| Alerts: |
|
Comments (none posted)
Webmin/Usermin vulnerabilities
| Package(s): | webmin |
CVE #(s): | |
| Created: | May 20, 2002 |
Updated: | January 10, 2003 |
| Description: |
Webmin is a web-based interface for
system administration for Unix.
Webmin has cross-site scripting and
session ID spoofing vulnerabilities
which are fixed in the May 6, 2002 release of version 0.970.
(First LWN
report: May 9).
This one is scary. The session ID
spoofing vulnerability allows the "possibility that arbitrary
commands may be executed with root privileges."
Upgrading is strongly recommended. At a minimum avoid the
"preconditions for a successful exploit" by disabling
password timeouts under Webmin->Configuration->Authentication.
|
| Alerts: |
|
Comments (1 posted)
Problems with libgtop_daemon
| Package(s): | wuftpd libgtop |
CVE #(s): | |
| Created: | May 20, 2002 |
Updated: | May 7, 2003 |
| Description: |
The libgtop_daemon package is a GNOME
program which makes system information available remotely.
LWN reported the remotely exploitable format
string and buffer overflow vulnerabilities in that package
on December 6th.
On November 28th
disabling the libgtop_daemon on systems where it is running until
an update is available.
Many Linux systems do not run
libgtop by default, but applying the update is a good idea anyway.
|
| Alerts: |
|
Comments (1 posted)
xchat IC server based dns query vulnerability
| Package(s): | xchat |
CVE #(s): | CAN-2002-0382
|
| Created: | June 5, 2002 |
Updated: | September 24, 2002 |
| Description: |
A malicious IRC server may
return a response to a /dns query that executes arbitrary commands
with the privileges of the user running XChat.
Versions of XChat prior to 1.8.9 are vulnerable. |
| Alerts: |
|
Comments (none posted)
Resources
Wireless Security Blackpaper (Ars Technica)
Trey "Azariah" Dismukes has written a
black paper on security and wireless networks.
Fast forward to today. While wireless networks have seen widespread adoption in the home user markets, widely reported and easily exploited holes in the standard security system have stunted wireless' deployment rate in enterprise environments. While many people don't know exactly what the weaknesses are, most have accepted the prevailing wisdom that wireless networks are inherently insecure and nothing can be done about it. Can wireless networks be deployed securely today? What exactly are the security holes in the current standard, and how do they work? Where is wireless security headed in the future? This article attempts to shed light on these questions and others about wireless networking security in an enterprise environment.
Comments (none posted)
TASK 1.50 & Autopsy 1.60 release
Brian Carrier announced the release of The @stake Sleuth Kit (
TASK) 1.50 (with NTFS Support) and
Autopsy 1.60.
The @stake Sleuth Kit (TASK) and Autopsy Forensic Browser are an open
source alternative to the common Windows-based digital forensic tools.
Autopsy provides an investigator with an HTML-based graphical interface
that allows one to browse images from compromised systems in a "File
Manager"-like interface. Windows and UNIX file systems can be analyzed
to view deleted files, create time lines of file activity, and perform
key word searches.
Full Story (comments: none)
Web based portscan database
Ryan Fox announced the initial release of the
Portscan web based portscan database tool.
"I have developed a web based portscan database tool, aptly named
Portscan. Currently, it accepts portscans in nmap's xml format and
stores them in it's database (MySQL). Searches can be performed on the
database by hostname/os.
"
Full Story (comments: none)
Linux Security Week and Advisory Watch
The
July 22nd Linux Security Week and
July 19th Linux Advisory Watch newsletters
from LinuxSecurity.com are available.
Comments (none posted)
Events
University of Idaho Workshop on Computer Forensics
The workshop will be held September 23rd, 24th and 25th, 2002, in
Moscow, Idaho, USA.
Due to the generosity of our sponsors, I'm able to offer several
scholarships to academics (faculty and students) to assist with the
costs of travel and lodging. We're primarily allocating them to
faculty considering teaching a computer forensics course,
students/faculty beginning research in the area who would benefit from
a broad overview, and speakers who are presenting their research at
our workshop (speaker slots still open).
Full Story (comments: none)
Upcoming Security Events
| Date | Event | Location |
| July 31 - August 1, 2002 | Black Hat Briefings 2002 | (Caesars Palace Hotel and Resort)Las Vegas, NV, USA |
| August 2 - 4, 2002 | Defcon | (Alexis Park Hotel and Resort)Las Vegas, Nevada |
| August 5 - 9, 2002 | 11th USENIX Security Symposium | San Francisco, CA, USA |
| August 6 - 9, 2002 | CERT Conference 2002 | Omaha, Nebraska, USA |
| August 19 - 21, 2002 | Canadian Security & Intelligence Conference(CSICON) | (Hyatt Regency)Calgary, Alberta Canada |
| August 28 - 30, 2002 | Workshop on Information Security Applications(WISA 2002) | Jeju Island, Korea |
| September 19 - 20, 2002 | SEcurity of Communications on the Internet 2002(SECI'02) | Tunis, Tunisia |
| September 23 - 26, 2002 | New Security Paradigms Workshop 2002 | (The Chamberlain Hotel)Hampton, Virginia, USA |
| September 23 - 25, 2002 | University of Idaho Workshop on Computer Forensics | (University of Idaho)Moscow, Idaho, USA |
For additional security-related events, included training courses (which we
don't list above) and events further in the future, check out
Security Focus' calendar,
one of the primary resources we use for building the above list. To
submit an event directly to us, please send a plain-text message to
lwn@lwn.net.
Comments (none posted)
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