Sun Microsystems Solaris FIFO FS Information Disclosure Vulnerability

iDefense Security Advisory 10.02.07
http://labs.idefense.com/intelligence/vulnerabilities/ 
Oct 02, 2007

I. BACKGROUND

Solaris is a UNIX operating system developed by Sun Microsystems. More
information can be found at the following URL.

http://www.sun.com/software/solaris/ 

II. DESCRIPTION

Local exploitation of an integer signedness error in Sun Microsystem's
Solaris could allow attackers to disclose sensitive information from
memory.

The FIFO FS (First In First Out File System) is a service provided by
the kernel that is commonly used for IPC (InterProcess Communication).
A FIFO is represented as a node in the file system, and is similar to
the concept of named pipes in Windows.

The vulnerability exists in the kernel ioctl() handler for FIFOs. The
I_PEEK ioctl is used to peek at a number of bytes contained in the FIFO
without actually removing them from the queue. One of the arguments to
this command, which represents the number of bytes to peek, is a signed
integer value. Since this parameter is not properly validated, a
negative value can cause large amounts of kernel memory to be leaked.

III. ANALYSIS

Exploitation allows an attacker to view potentially sensitive
information belonging to the kernel or other users. For example, the
root password hash or encryption keys might be disclosed.

IV. DETECTION

iDefense has confirmed the existence of this vulnerability in Solaris 10
on x86 and SPARC. It is suspected that earlier versions are also
affected.

V. WORKAROUND

iDefense is not aware of any workaround for this issue.

VI. VENDOR RESPONSE

Sun has addressed this vulnerability by releasing patches. For more
information, consult Sun Alert 103061 at the following URL.

http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-26-103061-1 

VII. CVE INFORMATION

A Mitre Corp. Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) number has not
been assigned yet.

VIII. DISCLOSURE TIMELINE

02/13/2007  Initial vendor notification
02/15/2007  Initial vendor response
10/02/2007  Coordinated public disclosure

IX. CREDIT

The discoverer of this vulnerability wishes to remain anonymous.

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X. LEGAL NOTICES

Copyright =A9 2007 iDefense, Inc.

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Disclaimer: The information in the advisory is believed to be accurate
at the time of publishing based on currently available information. Use
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