__________________________________________________________ The U.S. Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability ___ __ __ _ ___ / | /_\ / \___ __|__ / \ \___ __________________________________________________________ INFORMATION BULLETIN Sun Buffer Overflow in LDAP Name Service [Sun Alert ID: 52222] July 2, 2003 21:00 GMT Number N-113 [REVISED 15 Dec 2003] ______________________________________________________________________________ PROBLEM: There is a buffer overflow in the "nss_ldap.so.1" library. PLATFORM: Solaris 8 and 9 DAMAGE: An unprivileged local user may be able to gain unauthorized root access. SOLUTION: Apply workaround stated in Sun's Alert Notification or, as of 12/15/03, apply the appropriate patches. ______________________________________________________________________________ VULNERABILITY The risk is MEDIUM. A local account is required to exploit this ASSESSMENT: vulnerability. ______________________________________________________________________________ LINKS: CIAC BULLETIN: http://www.ciac.org/ciac/bulletins/n-113.shtml ORIGINAL BULLETIN: http://www.sunsolve.sun.com/pub-cgi/retrieve.pl?doc= fsalert%2F52222&zone_32=category%3Asecurity ______________________________________________________________________________ REVISION HISTORY 12/15/03 - CIAC has revised Bulletin N-113 to reflect the availability of Sun patches vs. just workarounds when originally released on 7/2/2003. [***** Start Sun Alert ID: 52222 *****] Sun(sm) Alert Notification Sun Alert ID: 52222 Synopsis: In Solaris 8 and Solaris 9 a Buffer Overflow in the LDAP Name Service May Lead to Unauthorized Root Access Category: Security Product: Solaris BugIDs: 4830525 Avoidance: Workaround, Patch State: Resolved Date Released: 26-Mar-2003, 22-Oct-2003, 30-Oct-2003, 12-Dec-2003 Date Closed: 12-Dec-2003 Date Modified: 22-Oct-2003, 23-Oct-2003, 30-Oct-2003, 06-Nov-2003, 12-Dec-2003 1. Impact On Solaris 8 and Solaris 9 systems with the LDAP name service enabled, an unprivileged local user may be able to gain unauthorized root access due to a buffer overflow in the "nss_ldap.so.1" library. 2. Contributing Factors This issue can occur in the following releases: SPARC Platform Solaris 8 without patch 108993-31 Solaris 9 without patch 112960-09 x86 Platform Solaris 8 without patch 108994-31 Solaris 9 without patch 114328-02 Note: Solaris 2.6 and Solaris 7 are not affected. Solaris 2.5.1 will not be evaluated regarding the potential impact of the issue described in this Sun Alert document. Only Solaris 8 and Solaris 9 systems with the LDAP name service enabled in the "/etc/nsswitch.conf" file for any of the following databases are affected by this issue: bootparams ethers hosts ipnodes netgroup netmasks networks The LDAP name service is enabled for a database if the "ldap" keyword is present in the "/etc/nsswitch.conf" as shown for the "hosts", "networks", and "netgroup" databases in the following example: $ grep ldap /etc/nsswitch.conf hosts: ldap dns [NOTFOUND=return] files networks: ldap [NOTFOUND=return] files netgroup: ldap 3. Symptoms There are no predictable symptoms that would show the described issue has been exploited to gain root privileges. Solution Summary Top 4. Relief/Workaround To work around the described issue, edit the "/etc/nsswitch.conf" file to not use LDAP with the following databases (i.e. remove the "ldap" keyword for these database entries): bootparams ethers hosts ipnodes netgroup netmasks networks For example, edit the following line in "/etc/nsswitch.conf" from: hosts: ldap dns [NOTFOUND=return] files to hosts: dns [NOTFOUND=return] files Editing the "/etc/nsswitch.conf" file requires root access rights. 5. Resolution This issue is addressed in the following releases: SPARC Platform Solaris 8 with patch 108993-31 or later Solaris 9 with patch 112960-09 or later x86 Platform Solaris 8 with patch 108994-31 or later Solaris 9 with patch 114328-02 or later Change History 22-Oct-2003: Updated Relief/Workaround section with temporary patches 23-Oct-2003: Updated Relief/Workaround section 30-Oct-2003: Patches are available 06-Nov-2003: Updated Contributing Factors, Relief/Workaround and Resolution sections 12-Dec-2003: Updated Contributing Factors and Resolution sections State: Resolved This Sun Alert notification is being provided to you on an "AS IS" basis. This Sun Alert notification may contain information provided by third parties. The issues described in this Sun Alert notification may or may not impact your system(s). Sun makes no representations, warranties, or guarantees as to the information contained herein. ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, ARE HEREBY DISCLAIMED. BY ACCESSING THIS DOCUMENT YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT SUN SHALL IN NO EVENT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT ARISE OUT OF YOUR USE OR FAILURE TO USE THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN. This Sun Alert notification contains Sun proprietary and confidential information. It is being provided to you pursuant to the provisions of your agreement to purchase services from Sun, or, if you do not have such an agreement, the Sun.com Terms of Use. This Sun Alert notification may only be used for the purposes contemplated by these agreements. Copyright 2000-2003 Sun Microsystems, Inc., 4150 Network Circle, Santa Clara, CA 95054 U.S.A. All rights reserved. [***** End Sun Alert ID: 52222 *****] _______________________________________________________________________________ CIAC wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Sun Microsystems, Inc. for the information contained in this bulletin. _______________________________________________________________________________ CIAC, the Computer Incident Advisory Capability, is the computer security incident response team for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the emergency backup response team for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). CIAC is located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. CIAC is also a founding member of FIRST, the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams, a global organization established to foster cooperation and coordination among computer security teams worldwide. CIAC services are available to DOE, DOE contractors, and the NIH. CIAC can be contacted at: Voice: +1 925-422-8193 (7x24) FAX: +1 925-423-8002 STU-III: +1 925-423-2604 E-mail: ciac@ciac.org Previous CIAC notices, anti-virus software, and other information are available from the CIAC Computer Security Archive. World Wide Web: http://www.ciac.org/ Anonymous FTP: ftp.ciac.org PLEASE NOTE: Many users outside of the DOE, ESnet, and NIH computing communities receive CIAC bulletins. If you are not part of these communities, please contact your agency's response team to report incidents. Your agency's team will coordinate with CIAC. The Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) is a world-wide organization. A list of FIRST member organizations and their constituencies can be obtained via WWW at http://www.first.org/. This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor the University of California nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation or favoring by the United States Government or the University of California. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or the University of California, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. 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