Conference minotr::security_advisory

142.0. "Information Only: CIAC Bulletin H22a: talkd" by MINOTR::NOBLE (Your Data, Your Job...Protect Both) Thu May 08 1997 09:13

    The DIGITAL Corporate Information Security Group has received the
    following external security notice.  It should be noted that DIGITAL
    does not support the software identified. HOWEVER - DIGITAL has
    verified that this problem exists for DIGITAL UNIX.  Remedial patches
    are being tested and when available will be announced to internal users
    via a CISG Security Advisory.
    
    This third party notice is being provided as information only.  No
    security action is required at this time.  Nor is any recommendation
    being made with regards the solution(s) identified.
    
    Should you happen to be using the third party software impacted by
    this notice, please use due discretion before implementing any or all
    of the solution(s) identified.
    
    If you are an internal user of the software impacted in this notice,
    and have any questions regarding this notice, then please contact your
    IT Cluster Security Manager.  An up-to-date list can be found at URL
    http://www-security.mko.dec.com/gen-info/sec-ops.html
      
                                  -=<>=-
    

    
    
             __________________________________________________________

                       The U.S. Department of Energy
                    Computer Incident Advisory Capability
                           ___  __ __    _     ___
                          /       |     /_\   /
                          \___  __|__  /   \  \___
             __________________________________________________________

                             INFORMATION BULLETIN

                       talkd Buffer Overrun Vulnerability
                        Update to talkd in Bulletin H-22

May 1, 1997 19:00 GMT                                             Number H-22a
______________________________________________________________________________
PROBLEM:       A vulnerability has been identified in the talkd communication
               program.
PLATFORM:      Hewlett-Packard
DAMAGE:        Local users may gain root privileges.
SOLUTION:      Apply patches as indicated below.
______________________________________________________________________________
VULNERABILITY  Exploit details involving this vulnerability have been made
ASSESSMENT:    publicly available.
______________________________________________________________________________

This bulletin updates H-22 by adding patch information from Hewlett-Packard.
The previous bulletin contains information about BSDI products.

[ Start Hewlett-Packard Advisory ]

Document ID:  HPSBUX9704-061
Date Loaded:  970501
      Title:  Security Vulnerability in talkd for HP-UX 10.X only

- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
     HEWLETT-PACKARD SECURITY BULLETIN: #00061, 30 April 1997
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------

The information in the following Security Bulletin should be acted upon
as soon as possible.  Hewlett Packard will not be liable for any
consequences to any customer resulting from customer's failure to fully
implement instructions in this Security Bulletin as soon as possible.

- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROBLEM:  Security Vulnerability in talkd

PLATFORM: HP 9000 Series 700/800s running only HP-UX 10.X releases.

DAMAGE:   Vulnerabilities exist allowing network users to gain root
          privileges.

SOLUTION: Apply patch:
          PHNE_10042 for all platforms with HP-UX releases 10.0X/10.10
          PHNE_10043 for all platforms with HP-UX release 10.20

AVAILABILITY: All patches are available now.
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
I.
   A. Background
      As referenced in CERT(sm) Advisory CA-97.04 on January 27, 1997
      a vulnerability in the talkd executable has been discovered.
      The program talkd started shipping in HP-UX 10.X releases.

   B. Fixing the problem
      The vulnerability can be eliminated from HP-UX release 10.X
      by applying the appropriate patch.

   C. Recommended solution
      1. Determine which patch is appropriate for your operating
         system.

      2. Hewlett-Packard's HP-UX patches are available via email
         and the World Wide Web

         To obtain a copy of the Hewlett-Packard SupportLine email
         service user's guide, send the following in the TEXT PORTION
         OF THE MESSAGE to [email protected] (no Subject
         is required):
                              send guide

         The users guide explains the HP-UX patch downloading process
         via email and other services available.

         World Wide Web service for downloading of patches
         is available via our URL:
                  (http://us.external.hp.com)

      3. Apply the patch to your HP-UX system.

      4. Examine /var/adm/sw/swinstall.log, for any relevant WARNING's
         or ERROR's.

   D. Impact of the patch
      The patches for HP-UX release 10.X provide enhancements to the
      talkd executable to avoid this vulnerability.

   E. To subscribe to automatically receive future NEW HP Security
      Bulletins from the HP Electronic Support Center via electronic
      mail, do the following:

      User your browser to get to the HP Electronic Support Center page
      at:

      http://us-support.external.hp.com
      (for US, Canada, Asia-Pacific, & Latin-America)

      http://europe-support.external.hp.com
      (for Europe)

      Click on the Technical Knowledge Database, register as a user
      (remember to save the User ID assigned to you, and your password),
      and it will connect to a HP Search Technical Knowledge DB page.
      Near the bottom is a hyperlink to our Security Bulletin archive.
      Once in the archive there is another link to our current
      security patch matrix. Updated daily, this matrix is categorized
      by platform/OS release, and by bulletin topic.

   F. To report new security vulnerabilities, send email to

           [email protected]

      Please encrypt any exploit information using the security-alert
      PGP key, available from your local key server, or by sending a
      message with a -subject- (not body) of 'get key' (no quotes) to
      [email protected].

      Permission is granted for copying and circulating this Bulletin to
      Hewlett-Packard (HP) customers (or the Internet community) for the
      purpose of alerting them to problems, if and only if, the Bulletin
      is not edited or changed in any way, is attributed to HP, and
      provided such reproduction and/or distribution is performed for
      non-commercial purposes.

      Any other use of this information is prohibited. HP is not liable
      for any misuse of this information by any third party.

[ End Hewlett-Packard Advisory ]
______________________________________________________________________________

CIAC wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Hewlett-Packard for the
information contained in this bulletin.
______________________________________________________________________________


CIAC, the Computer Incident Advisory Capability, is the computer
security incident response team for the U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE) and the emergency backup response team for the National
Institutes of Health (NIH). CIAC is located at the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory in Livermore, California. CIAC is also a founding
member of FIRST, the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams, a
global organization established to foster cooperation and coordination
among computer security teams worldwide.


PLEASE NOTE: Many users outside of the DOE, ESnet, and NIH computing
communities receive CIAC bulletins.  If you are not part of these
communities, please contact your agency's response team to report
incidents. Your agency's team will coordinate with CIAC. The Forum of
Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) is a world-wide
organization. A list of FIRST member organizations and their
constituencies can be obtained via WWW at http://www.first.org/.

This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an
agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States
Government nor the University of California nor any of their
employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any
legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or
usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process
disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately
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otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement,
recommendation or favoring by the United States Government or the
University of California. The views and opinions of authors expressed
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