__________________________________________________________

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

                             INFORMATION BULLETIN

                        Buffer Overflow in Oracle Binary
                          [Oracle Security Alert #59]

October 21, 2003 17:00 GMT                                        Number O-013
______________________________________________________________________________
PROBLEM:       A malicious local user may run code of their choice on the 
               server machine. 
PLATFORM:      All supported UNIX and Linux operating system variants 
               Oracle 9i/Database Release 2, Version 9.2.x 
               Oracle 9i/Database Release 1, Version 9.0.x 
               Oracle 8i/Database Release 8.1.x 
DAMAGE:        This buffer overflow may allow a malicious local user to run 
               code of their choice as the owner and group of these binaries, 
               typically the "oracle" user, and the "dba" group. 
SOLUTION:      Implement the workaround. 
               Note--an interim (one-off) patch for this issue will soon be 
               available. We will update this bulletin when the patch becomes 
               available. 
______________________________________________________________________________
VULNERABILITY  The risk is LOW. A local user must have a valid account on the 
ASSESSMENT:    operating system hosting the Oracle Database server. 
______________________________________________________________________________
LINKS: 
 CIAC BULLETIN:      http://www.ciac.org/ciac/bulletins/o-013.shtml 
 ORIGINAL BULLETIN:  http://otn.oracle.com/deploy/security/pdf/2003Alert59.pdf 

______________________________________________________________________________

[***** Start Oracle Security Alert #59 *****]

Oracle Security Alert #59
Dated: 20 October 2003
Severity: 2

Buffer Overflow in Oracle Binary

Description
A potential security vulnerability has been discovered in the "oracle" and 
"oracleO" (the letter O) binaries in the Oracle Database Server. This buffer 
overflow may allow a malicious local user to run code of their choice on the 
server machine.

Products Affected
Oracle 9i Database Release 2, Version 9.2.x
Oracle 9i Database Release 1, Version 9.0.x
Oracle 8i Database Release 8.1.x

Platforms Affected
All supported UNIX and Linux operating system variants.

Required conditions for exploit
A valid account on the operating system hosting the Oracle Database server.

Risk to exposure
This buffer overflow may allow a malicious local user to run code of their choice 
as the owner and group of these binaries, typically the "oracle" user, and the 
"dba" group. Oracle is aware of an exploit for this potential vulnerability.

How to minimize risk
See Workaround, below. Follow Oracle’s best practices for database,
    http://otn.oracle.com/deploy/security/oracle9i/pdf/9ir2_checklist.pdf
    http://otn.oracle.com/deploy/security/oracle9i/pdf/9i_checklist.pdf
and investigate IT deployments of firewalls, etc.

Ramification for customer
Oracle recommends that customers review the severity rating for this Alert and
patch accordingly. See
    http://otn.oracle.com/deploy/security/pdf/oracle_severity_ratings.pdf
for a definition of severity ratings.

Workaround
The following workaround is appropriate for both Oracle 9i and 8i:
The "other" execute permissions should be removed from the binaries in question. 
Perform the following steps:

    # cd $ORACLE_HOME/bin
    # chmod o-x oracle oracleO

In addition, verify that only trusted users are in the same group as the oracle 
and oracleO binaries.

No other changes are required. For example, do not remove setuid or setgid from 
the affected binaries.

Patch Information
An interim (oneoff) patch for this issue will soon be available for the following 
release:
    Oracle 9i Database Release 9.2.0.4 for Linux x86.

Fixed by
Please review Metalink, or check with Oracle Support Services periodically for patch 
availability if the patch for your platform is unavailable. Oracle strongly recommends 
that you backup and comprehensively test the stability of your system upon application 
of any patch prior to deleting any of the original file(s) that are replaced by the 
patch.

Modification History
20OCT03: Initial release, version 1

[***** End Oracle Security Alert #59 *****]
_______________________________________________________________________________

CIAC wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Oracle 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
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