FOR OFFICIAL DOE USE ONLY--DO NOT DISTRIBUTE OUTSIDE OF DOE
________________________________________________________________________
                 THE COMPUTER INCIDENT ADVISORY CAPABILITY

                                  CIAC

                            ADVISORY NOTICE
________________________________________________________________________

              Password Problems with Unisys U5000 /etc/passwd 


May 8, 1990, 1500 PST                                   Number A-24
 

The following advisory was issued by the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT)
and has been relayed via the Defense Communications Agency's Security
Coordination Center and the various Emergency Response Teams in the Department
of Defense.  This unedited notice is reproduced below.

                               CERT Advisory
                                May 7, 1990
                      Unisys U5000 /etc/passwd problem


The CERT/CC has recently verified several reports of unauthorized access
to Internet connected Unisys systems.  The intruder(s) gained access to
these systems by logging into vendor supplied default accounts; accounts
that had not been given passwords by the systems' owners.

Gary Garb, Corporate Computer Security Officer for Unisys Corporation,
states:

 "The Unisys U5000 series UNIX systems are delivered with a number of
 system logins.  The logins are NOT password protected when the
 customer receives the system.  Unless the customer secures these logins,
 the system is vulnerable to unauthorized access."

 "A complete list of these logins can be found in the /etc/passwd file.
 Each login is described by one record in /etc/passwd which contains a
 number of fields separated by colons.  The second field normally would
 contain the encrypted password.  The system logins will initially have
 a null second field (indicated by two adjacent colons) in their descriptive
 records in /etc/passwd."

 "The U5000/80/85/90/95 System V Administration Guide, Volume 1 (UP13679)
 begins with a chapter on "System Identification and Security".  On page 1-2
 it states, "All logins should have passwords ... Logins that are not needed
 should be either removed (by deleting from /etc/passwd) or blocked (by
 locking the login as described in the section "Locking Unused Logins" on
 page 1-8).  The Guide contains complete instructions on controlling logins
 and passwords."

 "It is the user's (system administrator's) responsibility to thoroughly
 read the Guide and to ensure the security of the system.  *Securing the
 login entries should be of the highest priority and should be accomplished
 before anyone else has access to the system.*"

The CERT/CC urges administrators of Unisys systems, as well as administrators
of systems provided by other vendors,  to check their systems and insure all
accounts are protected by passwords; passwords that are different from the
default passwords provided by the vendor.

Questions regarding the security aspects of Unisys systems should be directed
to:
   Gary Garb, Corporate Security Officer
   Unisys Corporation
   (215) 986-4038

 For additional information or assistance, please contact CIAC: 
  David S. Brown
  (415) 423-9878 or (FTS) 543-9878
  FAX:  (415) 294-5054, (415) 423-0913 or (415) 422-4294

CIAC's 24-hour emergency hot-line number is (415) 971-9384.   

FELIX, CIAC's bulletin board service (BBS) can be accessed at 1200 or 2400 baud
at (415) 423-4753 or (FTS) 543-4753.  (9600 baud access can be obtained from
Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore Laboratories at 423-9885.)
 
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