__________________________________________________________ The U.S. Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability ___ __ __ _ ___ / | /_\ / \___ __|__ / \ \___ __________________________________________________________ INFORMATION BULLETIN Sun Vulnerability in Solaris "AnswerBook2 Documentation" Server Daemon [Sun Alert ID: 23412] October 20, 2003 18:00 GMT Number O-012 ______________________________________________________________________________ PROBLEM: An attacker can run arbitrary commands on the remote host as the user the server runs as. Note--The AnswerBook2 Documentation Server gives customers the ability to view Sun documentation using their favorite browser. SOFTWARE: AnswerBook2 Documentation Server Version 1.4.1 or earlier AnswerBook2 Documentation Server Version 1.4.2 without patch DAMAGE: An unprivileged local or remote user may be able to execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the AnswerBook2 server daemon, which is normally uid "daemon", on an AnswerBook2 (AB2) server system. SOLUTION: Upgrade to appropriate patch. ______________________________________________________________________________ VULNERABILITY The risk is LOW. The attacker can run arbitrary commands on the ASSESSMENT: remote host. ______________________________________________________________________________ LINKS: CIAC BULLETIN: http://www.ciac.org/ciac/bulletins/o-012.shtml ORIGINAL BULLETIN: Sun Alert ID: 23412 http://www.sunsolve.sun.com/pub-cgi/retrieve.pl?doc=fsalert %2F23412&zone_32=category%3Asecurity ______________________________________________________________________________ [***** Start Sun Alert ID: 23412 *****] Sun(sm) Alert Notification Sun Alert ID: 23412 Synopsis: Vulnerability in Solaris "AnswerBook2 Documentation" Server Daemon Category: Security Product: AnswerBook2 Documentation Server BugIDs: 4353727 Avoidance: Upgrade, Patch State: Resolved Date Released: 10-Aug-2000, 16-Oct-2003 Date Closed: 10-Aug-2000 Date Modified: 10-Aug-2000, 16-Oct-2003 1. Impact An unprivileged local or remote user may be able to execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the AnswerBook2 server daemon, which is normally uid "daemon", on an AnswerBook2 (AB2) server system. This issue is one of two vulnerabilities discussed in S21sec advisory s21sec-004 at: http://www.s21sec.com/en/avisos/s21sec-004-en.txt The other vulnerability discussed in the S21sec advisory is described in Sun Alert 57400. This issue is also described in Sun Security Bulletin #00196 at: http://sunsolve. sun.com/pub-cgi/secBulletin.pl 2. Contributing Factors This issue can occur in the following releases: SPARC * AnswerBook2 Documentation Server Version 1.4.1 or earlier * AnswerBook2 Documentation Server Version 1.4.2 without patch 110011-02 x86 Platform * AnswerBook2 Documentation Server Version 1.4.1 or earlier * AnswerBook2 Documentation Server Version 1.4.2 without patch 110012-02 Notes: 1. AnswerBook2 is no longer supported as of Solaris 9, and thus Solaris 9 is not affected. 2. AnswerBook2 Documentation Server version 1.4.2 first shipped with Solaris 8. 3. AnswerBook2 Documentation Server versions 1.4.3 and later are not affected by this issue. To determine the version of the currently installed AnswerBook2 Server, run the following command: $ grep SUNW_PRODVERS /var/sadm/pkg/SUNWab2[rsu]/pkginfo /var/sadm/pkg/SUNWab2r/pkginfo:SUNW_PRODVERS=1.4.2 /var/sadm/pkg/SUNWab2s/pkginfo:SUNW_PRODVERS=1.4.2 /var/sadm/pkg/SUNWab2u/pkginfo:SUNW_PRODVERS=1.4.2 3. Symptoms There are no predictable symptoms that would show the described issue has been exploited to execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the AnswerBook2 daemon on a system. Solution Summary Top 4. Relief/Workaround Sites which have configured AnswerBook2 Documentation Servers may wish to disable AB2 and instead refer to Sun documentation at the Sun Product Documentation web site at: http://docs.sun.com or view the documentation on the Solaris Documentation CD. To disable the AnswerBook2 Documentation Server, the following commands can be run as the root user: # /usr/lib/ab2/bin/ab2admin -o stop # /usr/lib/ab2/bin/ab2admin -o autostart_no 5. Resolution This issue is addressed in the following releases: SPARC Platform * Upgrade to AnswerBook2 Documentation Server version 1.4.2 with patch 110011-02 x86 Platform * Upgrade to AnswerBook2 Documentation Server version 1.4.2 with patch 110012-02 Notes: 1. Sites with AnswerBook2 Documentation Server version 1.4.1 or earlier need to first upgrade AnswerBook2 to version 1.4.2 before applying the above patches. 2. AnswerBook2 Documentation Server version 1.4.2 is available for download at: http://www.sun.com/software/ab2 Change History: 15-Oct-2003: * Updated: Contributing Factors, Symptoms, Relief/Workaround, and Resolution sections [***** End Sun Alert ID: 23412 *****] _______________________________________________________________________________ CIAC wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Sun Microsystems 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. LAST 10 CIAC BULLETINS ISSUED (Previous bulletins available from CIAC) O-002: Microsoft Internet Explorer Cumulative Patch O-003: HP Potential Security Vulnerability in dtprintinfo O-004: Microsoft Buffer Overrun in Messenger Service Could Allow Code Execution O-005: Microsoft Exchange Server Vulnerabilities O-006: Microsoft Authenticode Verification Vulnerability O-007: Microsoft Windows Help and Support Center Buffer Overrun Vulnerability O-008: Microsoft Troubleshooter ActiveX Control Buffer Overflow Vulnerability O-009: Microsoft Listbox and ComboBox Control Buffer Overrun Vulnerabilities O-010: Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 Outlook Web Access Vulnerability O-011: Sun Vulnerability in Solaris "AnswerBOok2 Documentation" Admin Script