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The U.S. Department of Energy
Computer Incident Advisory Capability
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INFORMATION BULLETIN
IBM AIX rmail Vulnerability
April 16, 1996 20:00 GMT Number G-19
______________________________________________________________________________
PROBLEM: A problem in the IBM AIX "rmail" program.
PLATFORM: AIX Version 3 (Version 4 does not contain this vulnerability).
DAMAGE: A user can gain unauthorized access to another user's mail.
SOLUTION: Implement the recommended solutions described below.
______________________________________________________________________________
VULNERABILITY Knowledge of how to exploit this vulnerability is becoming
ASSESSMENT: widely known.
______________________________________________________________________________
CIAC has obtained information from IBM-ERS pertaining to an IBM AIX rmail
vulnerability. CIAC recommends that you apply the two solutions mention in
the IBM Bulletin.
[ Start of IBM Bulletin ]
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EMERGENCY RESPONSE SERVICE
SECURITY VULNERABILITY ALERT
16 April 1996 16:00 GMT Number: ERS-SVA-E01-1996:003.1
===============================================================================
VULNERABILITY SUMMARY
VULNERABILITY: Vulnerability in the IBM AIX "rmail" program.
PLATFORMS: AIX Version 3 (Version 4 does not contain this vulnerability).
SOLUTION: Take one of the actions described below.
THREAT: A user can gain unauthorized access to another user's mail.
===============================================================================
DETAILED INFORMATION
I. Description
There is a potential security exposure in the "rmail" program on Version 3
of the IBM AIX operating system.
Version 4 of AIX does not contain this vulnerability.
II. Impact
A user with knowledge of this vulnerability can exercise it to obtain
unauthorized access to another user's electronic mail.
III. Solutions
The IBM AIX Response Team recommends two solutions to this problem:
1. Log in to the workstation as "root" and issue the command:
# /usr/bin/chmod 555 /usr/bin/rmail /bin/rmail
2. Apply the following APAR to your system once the APAR is available:
APAR - IX57680
The first solution should be applied immediately to remove the vulnerability
to your system. Once the APAR is available, you should also apply the second
solution.
IV. Acknowledgements
IBM-ERS would like to thank the IBM AIX Response Team for providing the
information contained in this alert.
===============================================================================
Copyright 1996 International Business Machines Corporation.
[ End of IBM Bulletin ]
_______________________________________________________________________________
CIAC wishes to acknowledge the contributions of IBM Emergency Response Service
(IBM-ERS) 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
National Institute 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.
CIAC services are available to DOE, DOE contractors, and the NIH. CIAC can be
contacted at:
Voice: +1 510-422-8193
FAX: +1 510-423-8002
STU-III: +1 510-423-2604
E-mail: ciac@llnl.gov
For emergencies and off-hour assistance, DOE, DOE contractor sites, and the NIH
may contact CIAC 24-hours a day. During off hours (5PM - 8AM PST), call the
CIAC voice number 510-422-8193 and leave a message, or call 800-759-7243
(800-SKY-PAGE) to send a Sky Page. CIAC has two Sky Page PIN numbers, the
primary PIN number, 8550070, is for the CIAC duty person, and the secondary
PIN number, 8550074 is for the CIAC Project Leader.
Previous CIAC notices, anti-virus software, and other information are
available from the CIAC Computer Security Archive.
World Wide Web: http://ciac.llnl.gov/
Anonymous FTP: ciac.llnl.gov (128.115.19.53)
Modem access: +1 (510) 423-4753 (28.8K baud)
+1 (510) 423-3331 (28.8K baud)
CIAC has several self-subscribing mailing lists for electronic publications:
1. CIAC-BULLETIN for Advisories, highest priority - time critical information
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2. CIAC-NOTES for Notes, a collection of computer security articles;
3. SPI-ANNOUNCE for official news about Security Profile Inspector (SPI)
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subscribe list-name LastName, FirstName PhoneNumber
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You will receive an acknowledgment containing address, initial PIN, and
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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
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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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