__________________________________________________________

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

                             INFORMATION BULLETIN

                  Sun Solaris newtask(1) Command Vulnerability
                       [Sun(sm) Alert Notification 52111]

April 1, 2003 21:00 GMT                                           Number N-069
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PROBLEM:       A vulnerability exists in the newtask(1) command that may lead 
               to unauthorized root access. 
PLATFORM:      Solaris 9 
DAMAGE:        If exploited, a local unprivileged user may be able to gain 
               unauthorized root access. 
SOLUTION:      Apply patch or workaround. 
______________________________________________________________________________
VULNERABILITY  The risk is MEDIUM. In order to exploit this vulnerability, an 
ASSESSMENT:    attacker would need a legitimate account on the target machine 
               to upgrade the privileges as described. 
______________________________________________________________________________
LINKS: 
 CIAC BULLETIN:      http://www.ciac.org/ciac/bulletins/n-069.shtml 
 ORIGINAL BULLETIN:                                                           
                     http://www.sunsolve.sun.com/pub-cgi/
               retrieve.pl?doc=fsalert%2F52111&zone_32=category%3Asecurity 
______________________________________________________________________________

[***** Start Sun(sm) Alert Notification 52111 *****]

Sun(sm) Alert Notification 
Sun Alert ID: 52111 
Synopsis: On Solaris 9 a Security Issue with the newtask(1) Command May Lead 
to Unauthorized Root Access 
Category: Security 
Product: Solaris 
BugIDs: 4798119 
Avoidance: Patch 
State: Resolved 
Date Released: 28-Mar-2003 
Date Closed: 28-Mar-2003 
Date Modified: 

1. Impact 

A local unprivileged user may be able to gain unauthorized root access due to 
a security issue with the newtask(1) command in Solaris 9. 

2. Contributing Factors 

This issue can occur in the following releases: 

SPARC Platform 

Solaris 9 without patch 114713-01 
x86 Platform 

Solaris 9 without patch 114714-01 
Notes: Solaris 2.6 and 7 do not have the newtask(1) command and are therefore not 
affected by this issue. 

Solaris 8 is not affected by this issue. 

3. Symptoms 

There are no predictable symptoms that would show the described problem has been 
exploited to gain root privileges. 

Solution Summary Top 

4. Relief/Workaround 

To work around the described issue, remove the setuid bit from newtask(1): 

	# chmod u-s /usr/bin/sparcv7/newtask
	# chmod u-s /usr/bin/sparcv9/newtask 
	# chmod u-s /usr/sbin/i86/whodo                                    
Note: removing the set-user-ID bit from the "newtask" binary will prevent 
unprivileged users from using the "newtask" command. 

5. Resolution 

This issue is addressed in the following releases: 

SPARC Platform 

Solaris 9 with patch 114713-01 or later 
x86 Platform 

Solaris 9 with patch 114714-01 or later 

This Sun Alert notification is being provided to you on an "AS IS" basis. This 
Sun Alert notification may contain information provided by third parties. The 
issues described in this Sun Alert notification may or may not impact your 
system(s). Sun makes no representations, warranties, or guarantees as to the 
information contained herein. ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, 
INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A 
PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, ARE HEREBY DISCLAIMED. BY ACCESSING 
THIS DOCUMENT YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT SUN SHALL IN NO EVENT BE LIABLE FOR ANY 
DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT ARISE 
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Alert notification contains Sun proprietary and confidential information. It 
is being provided to you pursuant to the provisions of your agreement to 
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the purposes contemplated by these agreements. 

Copyright 2000-2003 Sun Microsystems, Inc., 4150 Network Circle, 
Santa Clara, CA 95054 U.S.A. All rights reserved. 

[***** End Sun(sm) Alert Notification 52111 *****]

_______________________________________________________________________________

CIAC wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Sun Microsystems, Inc. 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
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