-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 =============================================================================== >> CERT-NL, 01-Mar-2000 << >> All CERT-NL information has been moved to http://cert.surfnet.nl. Links << >> to CERT-NL information contained in this advisory are therefore outdated. << >> << >> CERT-NL also has stopped the CERT-CC-Mirror service. Due to this the << >> links to the CERT-CC mirror are obsolete. Visit the CERT-CC site for the << >> complete CERT-CC advisory texts: http://www.cert.org << =============================================================================== =============================================================================== Security Advisory CERT-NL =============================================================================== Author/Source : Egon Verharen Index : S-99-23 Distribution : World Page : 1 Classification: External Version: 1 Subject : HP Current Directory Vulnerability Date : 25-Jul-99 =============================================================================== By courtesy of The U.S. Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability we received information on a vulnerability in HP-UX revision 10.X: The current directory is in the root user's PATH after logging in using CDE. The root user should not have the current directory in the PATH. This can potential lead to unauthorized increase in privileges. CERT-NL recommends applying the patch described below. ============================================================================== __________________________________________________________ The U.S. Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability ___ __ __ _ ___ / | /_\ / \___ __|__ / \ \___ __________________________________________________________ INFORMATION BULLETIN HP Current Directory Vulnerability HP Daily Security Bulletins Digest HPSBUX9907-100 July 22, 1999 23:00 GMT Number J-053 ______________________________________________________________________________ PROBLEM: The current directory is in the root user's PATH after logging in using CDE. The root user should not have the current directory in the PATH. PLATFORM: HP 9000 series 700/800 at HP-UX revision 10.X. DAMAGE: Potential for unauthorized increase in privileges. SOLUTION: Modify /usr/dt/bin/Xsession as indicated in the bulletin until a patch is available. ______________________________________________________________________________ VULNERABILITY The risk is Medium because there are several possible ways ASSESSMENT: that a user can get an unauthorized increase in privileges through this PATH problem. The workaround should be used until a patch is available. ______________________________________________________________________________ [ Start Hewlett-Packard Advisory ] Digest Name: Daily Security Bulletins Digest Created: Tue Jul 20 3:00:02 PDT 1999 Table of Contents: Document ID Title - --------------- ----------- HPSBUX9907-100 CDE Leaves Current Directory in root PATH The documents are listed below. - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Document ID: HPSBUX9907-100 Date Loaded: 19990719 Title: CDE Leaves Current Directory in root PATH - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- **REVISED 01** HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY SECURITY BULLETIN: #00100, 07 July 1999 Last Revised: 19 July 1999 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The information in the following Security Bulletin should be acted upon as soon as possible. Hewlett-Packard Company will not be liable for any consequences to any customer resulting from customer's failure to fully implement instructions in this Security Bulletin as soon as possible. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- PROBLEM: The current directory is in the root user's PATH after logging in using CDE. PLATFORM: HP 9000 series 700/800 at HP-UX revision 10.X DAMAGE: Increase in privileges.. SOLUTION: Modify /usr/dt/bin/Xsession until a patch is available. AVAILABILITY: This advisory will be updated when patches are available. CHANGE SUMMARY: HTML to text conversion instructions for script added. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. A. Background - The PATH environemnt variable is constructed from several sources including dtsearchpath and scripts in /etc/dt/config/Xsession.d/ and /usr/dt/config/Xsession.d/. The resulting PATH contains the string "::" which will be interpreted as the current directory. The root user should not have the current directory in the PATH. B. Fixing the problem - Since the PATH environment variable can be affected by dtsearchpath and several scripts, the recommended solution is to clean up the root user's PATH after is has been created. **REVISED 01** Note: This file is in HTML format. If you are editing the text version from a mailing the line below: for (i=1; i<=n; i++) { must be changed. Replace the characters between the second "i" and the "=n" with the single "less than" character (ascii 0x3c). The line will then read: for (i=1; iX=n; i++) { where X stands for the "less than" character. In /usr/dt/bin/Xsession just before this: # ########################################################################### # # Startup section. Add this: ###################### Clean up $PATH for root ########################## if [ "$USER" = "root" ] then Log "Clean up PATH for root user" Log "Old PATH = $PATH" PATH=`echo $PATH | awk ' { # Remove elements from PATH that are # (a) "." # (b) "" # (c) blank # gsub (" ",":", $0) # Substitite ":" for each blank n = split ($0, path, ":") # Split into elements with ":" as delimiter first = 1 # To suppress leading ":" in new PATH for (i=1; i<=n; i++) { len = length(path[i]) dot = index(path[i], ".") dot_only = 0 if ((len == 1) && (dot==1)) { dot_only = 1 } # print element if it is not "" and not "." if (!(len==0) && !(dot_only==1)) { if(first != 1) { printf (":") # if not first element, print ":" in front } printf ("%s",path[i]) first = 0 } } } END { printf ("\n") }'` Log "New PATH = $PATH" fi ###################### End - Clean up $PATH for root #################### C. To subscribe to automatically receive future NEW HP Security Bulletins from the HP Electronic Support Center via electronic mail, do the following: Use your browser to get to the HP Electronic Support Center page at: http://us-support.external.hp.com (for US, Canada, Asia-Pacific, & Latin-America) http://europe-support.external.hp.com (for Europe) Login with your user ID and password (or register for one). Remember to save the User ID assigned to you, and your password. Once you are in the Main Menu: To -subscribe- to future HP Security Bulletins, click on "Support Information Digests". To -review- bulletins already released from the main Menu, click on the "Search Technical Knowledge Database." Near the bottom of the next page, click on "Browse the HP Security Bulletin Archive". Once in the archive there is another link to our current Security Patch Matrix. Updated daily, this matrix categorizes security patches by platform/OS release, and by bulletin topic. The security patch matrix is also available via anonymous ftp: us-ffs.external.hp.com ~ftp/export/patches/hp-ux_patch_matrix D. To report new security vulnerabilities, send email to security-alert@hp.com Please encrypt any exploit information using the security-alert PGP key, available from your local key server, or by sending a message with a -subject- (not body) of 'get key' (no quotes) to security-alert@hp.com. Permission is granted for copying and circulating this Bulletin to Hewlett-Packard (HP) customers (or the Internet community) for the purpose of alerting them to problems, if and only if, the Bulletin is not edited or changed in any way, is attributed to HP, and provided such reproduction and/or distribution is performed for non-commercial purposes. Any other use of this information is prohibited. HP is not liable for any misuse of this information by any third party. ________________________________________________________________________ - -----End of Document ID:HPSBUX9907-100-------------------------------------- [ End Hewlett-Packard Advisory ] ______________________________________________________________________________ CIAC wishes to acknowledge Hewlett-Packard for the information contained in this bulletin. ______________________________________________________________________________ ============================================================================== CERT-NL is the Computer Emergency Response Team for SURFnet customers. SURFnet is the Dutch network for educational, research and related institutes. CERT-NL is a member of the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST). 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CERT-NL WILL THEN CONTACT YOU. =============================================================================== -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP 6.5.1i iQA/AwUBOL6IrTSYjBqwfc9jEQKb/wCgpADZoTtaJGjFovdXbM/BOOQaF0sAoMaN kuUBQ3fEaxwVM4oeqIb8k3m3 =CA/0 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----