SYM06-023 
Nov 28, 2006 
Symantec NetBackup PureDisk: PHP update to Address Reported Security Vulnerability

Reference:  http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/20879/

Revision History
none 

Severity
High (configuration dependent) 

Remote Yes
Local No
Authentication Required Yes (to network)
Exploit publicly available No

Overview
Symantec has released an update to address a security concern in PHP, a commonly used HTML-embedded scripting language, for Symantec's Veritas NetBackup  6.0 PureDisk Remote Office Edition. A heap overflow has been reported in the version of PHP shipped with the affected product builds listed below.  The  management interface of Symantec's product is accessible only through an SSL connection by default.  Depending on configuration, however; an unauthorized user  could potentially attempt to execute arbitrary code in the context of the vulnerable server, which runs in non-privileged mode by default. 

Affected Product/Version
Product Version  Build  Solution(s)
Symantec Veritas NetBackup PureDisk Remote Office Edition (all platforms)
6.0GA, MP1 NB_PDE_60_MP1_S01

Not Affected
Symantec Veritas NetBackup PureDisk Remote Office Edition (all platforms)
6.1

Symantec Response
Symantec engineers have addressed the reported issue and provided Security updates. Symantec strongly recommends all customers apply the latest security update  identified above or upgrade to Symantec Veritas NetBackup PureDisk Remote Office Edition 6.1 to protect against threats of this nature. 
Symantec knows of no exploitation of or adverse customer impact from this issue. 

The patch is available from: http://support.veritas.com/docs/285984 for Symantec Veritas NetBackup PureDisk Remote Office Edition 6.0. 

Best Practices
As part of normal best practices, Symantec recommends: 
* Restrict access to administration or management systems to authorized privileged users only 
* Block remote access to all ports not essential for efficient operation 
* Restrict remote access, if required, to trusted/authorized systems only 
* Remove/disable unnecessary accounts or restrict access according to security policy as required 
* Run under the principle of least privilege where possible 
* Keep all operating systems and applications updated with the latest vendor patches 
* Follow a multi-layered approach to security. Run both firewall and antivirus applications, at a minimum, to provide multiple points of detection and protection to both  inbound and outbound threats 
* Deploy network intrusion detection systems to monitor network traffic for signs of anomalous or suspicious activity. This may aid in detection of attacks or malicious  activity related to exploitation of latest vulnerabilities 

CVE
CVE-2006-5465 has been assigned to this issue. 
This issue is a candidate for inclusion in the CVE list (http://cve.mitre.org), which standardizes names for security problems. 
--------------------------------------
Symantec takes the security and proper functionality of its products very seriously. As founding members of the Organization for Internet Safety (OISafety), Symantec  follows the principles of responsible disclosure. Symantec also subscribes to the vulnerability guidelines outlined by the National Infrastructure Advisory Council  (NIAC). Please contact secure@symantec.com if you feel you have discovered a potential or actual security issue with a Symantec product. A Symantec Product  Security team member will contact you regarding your submission.

Symantec has developed a Product Vulnerability Handling Process document outlining the process we follow in addressing suspected vulnerabilities in our products.  We support responsible disclosure of all vulnerability information in a timely manner to protect Symantec customers and the security of the Internet as a result of  vulnerability. This document is available from http://www.symantec.com/security/

Symantec strongly recommends using encrypted email for reporting vulnerability information to secure@symantec.com. The Symantec Product Security PGP key can  be obtained from http://www.symantec.com/security/



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- ----------------------------------------
Symantec Product Security Team
Symantec takes the security of our products seriously as a responsible
disclosure company.  You can view our response policies at
http://www.symantec.com/security.
We will work directly with anyone who believes they have found a security
issue in a Symantec product to validate the problem and coordinate any 
response deemed necessary. 
 
Please contact secure@symantec.com concerning security issues with Symantec
products.

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