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The U.S. Department of Energy
Computer Incident Advisory Capability
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INFORMATION BULLETIN
HP-UX Malicious Code Sequences
February 23, 1995 1200 PST Number F-14
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PROBLEM: Malicious coding sequences can cause security vulnerabilities
in HP-UX 9.x.
PLATFORMS: HP 9000 series 700/800s, for HP-UX version 9.x
DAMAGE: Local users can gain unauthorized privileges.
SOLUTION: Apply appropriate vendor patch as described below.
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VULNERABILITY This vulnerability can cause the HP-UX Operating System to
ASSESSMENT: to crash or allow unauthorized access. CIAC urges affected
sites to install the appropriate secuirty patch.
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Critical Information about HP-UX Malicious Code Sequences
CIAC has obtained information from Hewlett Packard regarding a new security
vulnerability involving malicious coding sequences which can be used to
compromise the security and/or integrity of a system. Specific patch details
are provided below.
The document ftp://ciac.llnl.gov/pub/ciac/bulletin/f-fy95/hppatchs.txt has
been updated to reflect this bulletin. The hppatchs.txt document contains
the entire list of all HP Bulletins and patches.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Hewlett Packard updates patches periodically. These updates
are not reflected in the text of each HP bulletin. The overview presented
here contains current information on the patches available at the time of
the release of this CIAC bulletin. If you request an updated patch, when
you try to retrieve the patch you will receive a message stating that the
patch is obsolete and the name of the patch which supersedes it.
Hewlett Packard has made sum and MD5 checksums available for their patches
and for their security bulletins. See the detailed explanation for
HPSBUX9408-016 in CIAC bulletin F-02 for information on how to access and
utilize these checksums.
Following is the copy of the HP bulletin (HPSBUX9502-022):
[Begin HP Bulletin]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary of 'Daily Security Bulletins Digest' documents
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Document Id Description Page 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HPSBUX9502-022 Security Vulnerability involving malicious users
===============================================================================
Detailed list of 'Daily Security Bulletins Digest' documents
===============================================================================
Document Id: [HPSBUX9502-022]
Date Loaded: [02-15-95]
Description: Security Vulnerability involving malicious users
===============================================================================
----------------------------------------------------------------------
HEWLETT-PACKARD SECURITY BULLETIN: #00022, 15 February 95
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 involving malicious users
PLATFORM: HP 9000 series 700 and series 800 at revisions 9.X
DAMAGE: Users can gain unauthorized privileges
SOLUTION: Apply the appropriate patch for your version of HP-UX
For HP-UX 9.09+ (BLS), apply patch PHKL_5190,
HP-UX 9.09 (BLS), apply patch PHKL_5191,
HP-UX 9.08 (BLS), apply patch PHKL_5192,
HP-UX 9.05, apply patch PHKL_5049,
HP-UX 9.04, apply patch PHKL_5051,
HP-UX 9.03, apply patch PHKL_5049,
HP-UX 9.01, apply patch PHKL_5048,
HP-UX 9.0 , apply patch PHKL_5050.
AVAILABILITY: All patches are available now.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Problem
Hewlett-Packard has discovered some malicious coding sequences that can
cause the HP-UX Operating System to crash. These coding sequences are
malicious in origin and not representative of compiler generated code.
The resulting system crash is not always predictable, depending heavily
on the state of the system at the time of the attack. Given this
uncertainty, it is feasible that the security and/or integrity of the
system might become compromised.
Having identified this type of system vulnerability, HP has developed a
patch that when installed provides the following countermeasures.
First, it will protect your system from privilege violations that might
be attempted using these malicious coding sequences. Secondly, it
strengthens the Operating System so that it is more resistant to this
type of attack. Should the attack succeed in crashing the system, this
patch will in most cases report the identity of the process and user
that executed the malicious coding sequences. System Administrators
can use this identification information to help track down the source
of such attacks on their system.
B. What the Patch Does
This patch replaces key HP-UX library routines
C. How to Get The Patch
For HP-UX BLS product patches PHKL_5190, PHKL_5191 & PHKL_5192 are NOT
electronically available. For assistance in obtaining and installing
this patch contact the HP Response Center at 1 (800) 633-3600.
Be sure to mention the keyword "BLS" to help route the call.
All the other patches are available electronically. You can retrieve a
patch by using the service described below.
D. How to Install The Patch
1. Determine which patch is appropriate for your hardware platform and
operating system:
On the BLS product, HP-UX 9.08 (series 800) & HP-UX 9.09 (series 700),
execute: what /hp-ux .
On commercial products HP-UX 9.X (series 800) & HP-UX 9.X (series 700),
execute: what /hp-ux . Look for the product 9245XA (series 800) and
B2352A (series 700) to identify the revision currently running.
Then use the table above to select the appropriate patch to request or
retrieve.
2. Hewlett Packard's HP-UX patches are available via email & WWW (MOSAIC)
To obtain a copy of the HP SupportLine email service user's guide,
send the following in the TEXT PORTION OF THE MESSAGE to
support@support.mayfield.hp.com (no Subject is required):
send guide
The users guide explains the process for downloading HP-UX patches
via email and other services available.
WWW (MOSAIC) service (downloading of patches) is
also available via WWW (MOSAIC) our URL is:
(http://support.mayfield.hp.com)
3. Apply the patch to your HP-UX system.
4. Examine /tmp/update.log for any relevant WARNINGs or ERRORs. This
can be done as follows:
a. At the shell prompt, type "tail -60 /tmp/update.log | more"
b. Page through the next three screens via the space bar, looking
for WARNING or ERROR messages.
E. Impact of the patch and workaround
No patches will be available for versions of HP-UX prior to 9.0.
F. How to get Help
If you need help installing a patch and have a Support Contract you
can call the HP Response Center at 1 (800) 633-3600. If you have no
Support Contract, call the same number and ask to make a "Helpline"
call for assistance (payable via credit card).
Since security patches are treated very carefully by HP yet are available
free of charge, no additional information about the security issues
addressed by these patches will be given.
G. To subscribe to automatically receive future NEW HP Security Bulletins
from the HP Support-Line mail service via electronic mail, send an
e-mail message to:
support@support.mayfield.hp.com (no Subject is required)
Multiple instructions are allowed in the TEXT PORTION OF THE MESSAGE,
here are some basic instructions you may want to use:
* To add your name to the subscription list for new Security Bulletins,
send the following in the TEXT PORTION OF THE MESSAGE:
subscribe security_info
* To retrieve the index of all HP Security Bulletins issued to date,
send the following in the TEXT PORTION OF THE MESSAGE:
send security_info_list
WWW (MOSAIC) service (Browsing of Bulletins) is also available via WWW
(MOSAIC) our URL is:
http://support.mayfield.hp.com
Choose "Support news", then under Support news, choose "Security
Bulletins"
H. To report new security vulnerabilities, send email to
security-alert@hp.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[End HP Bulletin]
CIAC is the computer security incident response team for the U.S.
Department of Energy. Services are available free of charge to DOE and DOE
contractors.
DOE and DOE contractor sites can contact CIAC at:
Voice: 510-422-8193
FAX: 510-423-8002
STU-III: 510-423-2604
E-mail: ciac@llnl.gov
Previous CIAC notices, anti-virus software, and other information are
available on the Internet via anonymous FTP from ciac.llnl.gov (IP address
128.115.19.53).
CIAC has several self-subscribing mailing lists for electronic publications:
1. CIAC-BULLETIN for Advisories, highest priority - time critical
information, and Bulletins, important computer security information;
2. CIAC-NOTES for Notes, a collection of computer security articles;
3. SPI-ANNOUNCE for official news about Security Profile Inspector (SPI)
software updates, new features, distribution and availability;
4. SPI-NOTES, for discussion of problems and solutions regarding the use of
SPI products.
Our mailing lists are managed by a public domain software package called
ListProcessor, which ignores E-mail header subject lines. To subscribe (add
yourself) to one of our mailing lists, send requests of the following form:
subscribe list-name LastName, FirstName PhoneNumber
as the E-mail message body, substituting CIAC-BULLETIN, CIAC-NOTES,
SPI-ANNOUNCE or SPI-NOTES for "list-name" and valid information for
"LastName" "FirstName" and "PhoneNumber." Send to: ciac-listproc@llnl.gov
not to: ciac@llnl.gov
e.g.,
subscribe ciac-notes O'Hara, Scarlett 404-555-1212 x36
subscribe ciac-bulletin O'Hara, Scarlett 404-555-1212 x36
You will receive an acknowledgment containing address and initial PIN, and
information on how to change either of them, cancel your subscription, or get
help.
_____________________________________________________________________________
PLEASE NOTE: Many users outside of the DOE and ESnet 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 by sending E-mail to
first-request@first.org with an empty subject line and a message body
containing the line: send first-contacts.
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,
expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for
the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, product, or
process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately
owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process,
or service by trade name, trademark manufacturer, or 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 herein do not necessarily state or reflect
those of the United States Government nor the University of California, and
shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.
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