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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- __________________________________________________________ The U.S. Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability ___ __ __ _ ___ / | /_\ / \___ __|__ / \ \___ __________________________________________________________ INFORMATION BULLETIN Sunsoft Demo CD Vulnerability March 1, 1996 05:00 GMT Number G-15 ______________________________________________________________________________ PROBLEM: Interrupting the installation script on SunSoft's demo CDs can introduce a security vulnerability. PLATFORM: Sun Sparc and x86 systems DAMAGE: Web browsers may potentially access sites which take advantage of an introduced vulnerability. SOLUTION: Introduce the fixes described below. ______________________________________________________________________________ VULNERABILITY This vulnerability is only produced under unusual ASSESSMENT: circumstances and no Web sites exploiting it have been found. ______________________________________________________________________________ [Start Sun Bulletin ] - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUN MICROSYSTEMS SECURITY BULLETIN: #00132, 28 February 1995 - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BULLETIN TOPICS In this bulletin Sun announces a potential security vulnerability which can result from interrupting the installation script on several demo CD's. We describe how to determine if your system is affected, and how to remove the potential security vulnerability with one or two simple commands. No patches are needed. In addition to issuing this bulletin, Sun is sending letters to those customers known to have received the CD's. I. Who is affected and what to do II. Understanding the vulnerability III. Acknowledgments APPENDICES A. How to obtain Sun security patches B. How to report or inquire about Sun security problems C. How to obtain Sun security bulletins /\ Send Replies or Inquiries To: \\ \ \ \\ / Mark Graff / \/ / / Sun Security Coordinator / / \//\ MS MPK17-103 \//\ / / 2550 Garcia Avenue / / /\ / Mountain View, CA 94043-1100 / \\ \ Phone: 415-786-5274 \ \\ Fax: 415-786-7994 \/ E-mail: security-alert@Sun.COM ----------- Permission is granted for the redistribution of this Bulletin for the purpose of alerting Sun customers to problems, as long as the Bulletin is not edited and is attributed to Sun Microsystems. Any other use of this information without the express written consent of Sun Microsystems is prohibited. Sun Microsystems expressly disclaims all liability for any misuse of this information by any third party. - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUN MICROSYSTEMS SECURITY BULLETIN: #00132, 28 February 1995 - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Who is affected and what to do Sun has discovered that installation scripts in several SunSoft demo CD's contain a flaw which could weaken the security of systems on which the demo software is installed. We are alerting our customers so that those who are affected can take appropriate action. Date Title Part # ---- ----- ------ Sep-Dec '95 Catalyst CDWARE (Sparc) 724-1308-03, Rev D Jan-Mar '96 Catalyst CDWARE (Sparc) 724-1308-03, Rev E Jan-Mar '96 Catalyst CDWARE (x86) 724-1433-05, Rev C Dec '95 SunSoft Developer CD, Premiere Issue 95459-001 Jan '96 Business Solutions 95536-001 You need only be concerned if you: * Received one of the listed CD's; and * Installed the software on it, using the installation script; and * Interrupted the installation script before it could exit normally. If you did install the software, you should check whether the string "x-spam-sh" appears in the ".mailcap" file in your home directory, by issuing a command such as: grep x-spam-sh $HOME/.mailcap If the string appears in the file, use a text editor to delete any lines which include it, then exit any Web browsers you are currently running. When you have completed these steps, the potential security weakness is gone. You can then restart a browser without reopening the vulnerability. II. Understanding the vulnerability The potential security weakness arises only when the installation script is interrupted, causing it to terminate before undoing a temporary modification to the ".mailcap" file. If you were to use a Web browser while the ".mailcap" modification was in effect, your browser might be caused to execute commands on your system without your knowledge--if you happened to visit a Web page which exploited this flaw. (We believe no such sites exist at this time.) It might also be possible under these circumstances for such hidden commands to be executed on your behalf as the result of an electronic mail message. However, all of the mail programs we have tested would require your confirmation before executing the commands. We apologize for any inconvenience this problem may have caused. We have taken steps to ensure that it will not happen again. III. Acknowledgments Sun would like to thank Steve Neruda, of Nationwide Insurance, and CERT/CC for their assistance. APPENDICES A. How to obtain Sun security patches 1. If you have a support contract Customers with Sun support contracts can obtain any patches listed in this bulletin (and any other patches--and a list of patches) from: - Local Sun answer centers, worldwide - SunSITEs worldwide - SunSolve Online The patches are available via World Wide Web at http://sunsolve1.sun.com. You should also contact your answer center if you have a support contract and: - You need assistance in installing a patch - You need additional patches - You want an existing patch ported to another platform - You believe you have encountered a bug in a Sun patch - You want to know if a patch exists, or when one will be ready 2. If you do not have a support contract Customers without support contracts may now obtain security patches, "recommended" patches, and patch lists via SunSolve Online. Sun also makes its security patches available via anonymous ftp, from the directory /systems/sun/sun-dist on the system ftp.uu.net. However, the ftp.uu.net repository will be discontinued in the near future. The availability of security patches via the SunSolve patch database has made it redundant. Sun does not furnish patches to any external distribution sites other than the ones mentioned here. 3. About the checksums Patches announced in a Sun security bulletin are uploaded to the ftp.*.net sites just before the bulletin is released, and seldom updated. In contrast, the "supported" patch databases are refreshed nightly, and will often contain newer versions of a patch incorporating changes which are not security-related. So that you can quickly verify the integrity of the patch files themselves, we supply checksums for the tar archives in each bulletin. The listed checksums should always match those on the ftp.*.net systems. (The rare exceptions are listed in the "checksums" file there.) Normally, the listed checksums will also match the patches on the SunSolve database. However, this will not be true if we have changed (as we sometimes do) the README file in the patch after the bulletin has been released. In the future we plan to provide checksum information for the individual components of a patch as well as the compressed archive file. This will allow customers to determine, if need be, which file(s) have been changed since we issued the bulletin containing the checksums. If you would like assistance in verifying the integrity of a patch file please contact this office or your local answer center. B. How to report or inquire about Sun security problems If you discover a security problem with Sun software or wish to inquire about a possible problem, contact one or more of the following: - Your local Sun answer centers - Your representative computer security response team, such as CERT - This office. Address postal mail to: Sun Security Coordinator MS MPK17-103 2550 Garcia Avenue Mountain View, CA 94043-1100 Phone: 415-786-5274 Fax: 415-786-7994 E-mail: security-alert@Sun.COM We strongly recommend that you report problems to your local Answer Center. In some cases they will accept a report of a security bug even if you do not have a support contract. An additional notification to the security-alert alias is suggested but should not be used as your primary vehicle for reporting a bug. C. How to obtain Sun security bulletins 1. Subscription information Sun Security Bulletins are available free of charge as part of our Customer Warning System. It is not necessary to have a Sun support contract in order to receive them. To receive information or to subscribe or unsubscribe from our mailing list, send mail to security-alert@sun.com with a subject line containing one of the following commands. Subject Information Returned/Action Taken ------- --------------------------------- HELP An explanation of how to get information LIST A list of current security topics QUERY [topic] The mail containing the question is relayed to a Security Coordinator for a response. REPORT [topic] The mail containing the text is treated as a security bug report and forwarded to a Security Coordinator for handling. Please note that this channel of communications does not supersede the use of Sun Solution Centers for this purpose. Note also that we do not recommend that detailed problem descriptions be sent in plain text. SEND topic Summary of the status of selected topic SUBSCRIBE Sender is added to the CWS (Customer Warning System) list. The subscribe feature requires that the sender include on the subject line the word "cws" and the reply email address. So the subject line might look like the following: SUBSCRIBE cws graff@sun.com UNSUBSCRIBE Sender is removed from the CWS list. Should your email not fit into one of the above subjects, a help message will be returned to you. Due to the volume of subscription requests we receive, we cannot guarantee to acknowledge requests. Please contact this office if you wish to verify that your subscription request was received, or if you would like your bulletin delivered via postal mail or fax. 2. Obtaining old bulletins Sun Security Bulletins are archived on ftp.uu.net (in the same directory as the patches) and on SunSolve. Please try these sources first before contacting this office for old bulletins. [End Sun Bulletin ] _______________________________________________________________________________ CIAC wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Sun Microsystems 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 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. 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 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 the following request 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 when sending E-mail to ciac-listproc@llnl.gov: subscribe list-name LastName, FirstName PhoneNumber e.g., subscribe ciac-notes OHara, Scarlett W. 404-555-1212 x36 You will receive an acknowledgment containing address, 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, 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 by sending email to docserver@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, 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 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 or the University of California, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. LAST 10 CIAC BULLETINS ISSUED (Previous bulletins available from CIAC) (G-5) HP-UX FTP Vulnerability Bulletin (G-6) Windows 95 Vulnerability (G-7) SGI Object Server Vulnerability (G-8) splitvt(1) Vulnerability (G-9b) Unix sendmail Vulnerability (G-10a) Winword Macro Viruses (G-11) HP Syslog Vulnerability (G-12) SGI ATT Packaging Utility Security Vulnerability (G-13) Kerberos 4 Key Server Vulnerability (G-14) Domain Name Service Vulnerabilities RECENT CIAC NOTES ISSUED (Previous Notes available from CIAC) Notes 07 - 3/29/95 A comprehensive review of SATAN Notes 08 - 4/4/95 A Courtney update Notes 09 - 4/24/95 More on the "Good Times" virus urban legend Notes 10 - 6/16/95 PKZ300B Trojan, Logdaemon/FreeBSD, vulnerability in S/Key, EBOLA Virus Hoax, and Caibua Virus Notes 11 - 7/31/95 Virus Update, Hats Off to Administrators, America On-Line Virus Scare, SPI 3.2.2 Released, The Die_Hard Virus Notes 12 - 9/12/95 Securely configuring Public Telnet Services, X Windows, beta release of Merlin, Microsoft Word Macro Viruses, Allegations of Inappropriate Data Collection in Win95 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Processed by Mailcrypt 3.3, an Emacs/PGP interface iQCVAwUBMTdP4LnzJzdsy3QZAQGzxwP/VqyR6jg94Akrmnzqgz13/XB6vBasmGRx UFWDC7AaPpRg9i3iUMTOFRu2uKxTgg37tSTCPeGX9LmYgAcRR+RB217IvTfADus3 C/atBzI7AXrxQclpQfkZICMDabBQBCL4U089ffCJh4K8qD/GSZuJAJ545PFiZGo/ vPgVb6ECGVI= =xi5r -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----