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The U.S. Department of Energy
Computer Incident Advisory Capability
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INFORMATION BULLETIN
Vulnerability in Adobe FrameMaker (fm_fls)
August 15, 1996 16:00 GMT Number G-37
______________________________________________________________________________
PROBLEM: A configuration problem has been reported in the floating
license server for Adobe FrameMaker (fm_fls).
PLATFORM: Any system running the following Adobe products that have a
setuid version of fm_fls:
Frame Products, version 4
FrameMaker
FrameViewer
FrameBuilder
Frame Products, version 5
FrameMaker
FrameMaker+SGML
DAMAGE: This vulnerability allows non-privileged users to make any
file world-readable and world-writable, thereby allowing root
access.
SOLUTION: Apply vendor patches when they become available and use the
workarounds listed in the bulletin below.
______________________________________________________________________________
VULNERABILITY This vulnerability is widely known. Exploitation scripts are
ASSESSMENT: publicly available. CIAC recommends that you apply these
patches as soon as possible.
______________________________________________________________________________
[Begin CERT Bulletin]
=============================================================================
CERT(sm) Advisory CA-96.18
August 14, 1996
Topic: Vulnerability in fm_fls
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The CERT Coordination Center has received reports of a configuration problem
in the floating license server for Adobe FrameMaker (fm_fls) that enables
non-privileged users to make any file world-readable and world-writable.
Exploitation scripts are publicly available.
Any system that includes a setuid version of fm_fls is vulnerable.
Adobe Systems reports that the following Adobe products use fm_fls:
Frame Products, version 4
FrameMaker
FrameViewer
FrameBuilder
Frame Products, version 5
FrameMaker
FrameMaker+SGML
The CERT/CC team recommends installing a patch from your vendor. Until you
can obtain a patch, we urge you to remove the setuid bit from all instances
of fm_fls.
As we receive additional information relating to this advisory, we will
place it in
ftp://info.cert.org/pub/cert_advisories/CA-96.18.README
We encourage you to check our README files regularly for updates on
advisories that relate to your site.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Description
FrameMaker is a commercial text-processing software package
available from Adobe Systems, Inc. It is also available from other
vendors as part of their product line offering.
When FrameMaker versions 4.X or 5.X are installed, the installation
script provided with FrameMaker installs a file named fm_fls that is
setuid to installing user, typically the root user. fm_fls is typically
found in the FrameMaker installation tree. Consult your documentation
for precise location of fm_fls.
When fm_fls runs, it opens up a log file, which by default is
/tmp/fm_fls.log. In normal operation, fm_fls writes logging information
about license usage to the named log file. However, when given invalid
arguments, fm_fls writes these arguments to the log file, changes the
owner of the log file to root or whoever installed fm_fls, changes the
permissions to world-readable and world-writable, and then exits.
Therefore, by giving fm_fls invalid arguments and naming another file as
the log file, a user can make that file world-readable and world-writable.
Adobe Systems reports that fm_fls is installed as setuid root because
it registers the license manager program with the program number
mapper, also known as portmap or rpcbind. On some platforms, only the
original user (in this case root) or the root user has permission to
remove a registration. fm_fls will attempt to remove a previous
registration when it is restarted. With fm_fls setuid root, restarting
fm_fls ensures that all changes made in the program number mapper are
successful because they are done by the same user.
The floating license servers shipped with and installed by FrameMaker
4.X and 5.X are vulnerable. Similarly, any other system that includes
a setuid version of fm_fls is vulnerable. Exploitation scripts are
publicly available.
II. Impact
Anyone with access to an account on an unpatched system can create
world-writable and world-readable files; it is then easy to gain root
access.
III. Solution
Obtain and install a vendor patch when it becomes available.
In the meantime, remove the setuid bit from all instances of fm_fls.
To determine if a system is vulnerable and to disable the programs that
are believed to be vulnerable, use the find command we provide below or
a variant. Consult your local system documentation to determine how to
tailor the find program on your system.
You will need to run the find command on each system you maintain
because the command examines files on the local disk only. Substitute
the names of your local file systems for FILE_SYSTEM_NAMES in the
example. Example local file system names are /, /usr, and /var.
To find all instances of fm_fls and then to remove the setuid bit from
them, do the following as root. Note that this is one long command,
though we have separated it onto two lines using a back-slash.
find FILE_SYSTEM_NAMES -xdev -type f -name fm_fls -perm -04000 \
-print -ok chmod u-s '{}' \;
This command will find all files on a system that are
- only in the file system you name (FILE_SYSTEM_NAMES -xdev)
- regular files (-type f)
- named fm_fls
- setuid (-perm -04000)
Once found, those files will
- have their names printed (-print)
- have the setuid mode removed, but only if you type `y'
in response to the prompt (-ok chmod u-s '{}' \;)
With the setuid root bit removed, fm_fls must then be started each
time by the same user. That user should be root so that the previous
registration can be successfully removed no matter what platform
fm_fls is running on.
In addition, the log file, license.log, should be stored in a non-public
directory; specify this new location with the -log command line argument.
Consult the documentation that comes with FrameMaker versions 4.X and
5.X to learn how to do this on your system.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The CERT Coordination Center staff thanks Adobe Systems for their support
in the development of this advisory.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[End CERT Bulletin]
_______________________________________________________________________________
CIAC wishes to acknowledge the contributions of CERT and Adobe Systems for the
information contained in this bulletin.
_______________________________________________________________________________
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