__________________________________________________________ The U.S. Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability ___ __ __ _ ___ / | /_\ / \___ __|__ / \ \___ __________________________________________________________ INFORMATION BULLETIN Security Vulnerabilities in Solaris AnswerBook2 Documentation [Sun Alert ID: 57737] March 8, 2005 18:00 GMT Number P-153 ______________________________________________________________________________ PROBLEM: The AnswerBook2 Search function dynamically generated web pages which may allow the execution of scripts or present malicious HTML to a user. PLATFORM: SPARC Platform - AnswerBook2 Doucmentation Server versions 1.4.4 or earlier (for Solaris 7 & 8 ) x86 Platform - AnswerBook2 Doucmentation Server versions 1.4.4 or earlier (for Solaris 7 & 8 ) DAMAGE: A remote attacker can run code with the permissions of the logged on user. SOLUTION: Disable AnswerBook2 Servers and use Sun product documentation at their website or from the documentation CD. Do not use the AnswerBook2 Admin GUI. ______________________________________________________________________________ VULNERABILITY The risk is LOW. Remote intruders can inject code into ASSESSMENT: AnswerBook2 results but must induce the user to follow a link to the compromised AnswerBook results. The code can run with the privileges of the user. ______________________________________________________________________________ LINKS: CIAC BULLETIN: http://www.ciac.org/ciac/bulletins/p-153.shtml ORIGINAL BULLETIN: Sun Alert ID: 57737 http://www.sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1 -26-57737-1&searchclause=%22category:security%22%20%22 availability,%20security%22 CVE/CAN: http://www.cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name= CAN-2005-0548 CAN-2005-0549 ______________________________________________________________________________ [***** Start Sun Alert ID: 57737 *****] Sun(sm) Alert Notification Sun Alert ID: 57737 Synopsis: Security Vulnerabilities in Solaris AnswerBook2 Documentation Category: Security Product: Answerbook2 BugIDs: 6228248, 6228257 Avoidance: Workaround State: Resolved Date Released: 07-Mar-2005 Date Closed: 07-Mar-2005 Date Modified: 1. Impact Two vulnerabilities have been discovered in the AnswerBook2 Server related to malicious HTML tags. 1. The AnswerBook2 Search function dynamically generates web pages which may allow the execution of scripts or present malicious HTML to a user. Users may unintentionally execute scripts in their browser written by a remote unprivileged user if they follow untrusted links/URIs in web pages, mail messages, or newsgroup postings which link to AnswerBook2 search results. By following these untrusted links/URIs, the remote attacker may be able to execute commands with the privileges of the user who accessed the link/URI. 2. The "View Log Files" function in the AnswerBook2 browser-based admin interface (GUI) may be vulnerable to cross-site scripting attacks. Due to this vulnerability, the AnswerBook2 administrator accessing the "View Log Files" functionality may unintentionally execute scripts written by an unprivileged local or remote user. The commands executed would run with the privileges of the user utilizing the AnswerBook2 browser-based admin GUI, who may be privileged. This issue is also described in the following documents: http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CAN-2005-0548 http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CAN-2005-0549 For further information on malicious HTML tags, cross site scripting, and web script vulnerabilities, see the following URLs: http://www.cert.org/archive/pdf/cross_site_scripting.pdf http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/malicious_code_FAQ.html http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-2000-02.html Sun acknowledges, with thanks, Thomas Liam Romanis for bringing this issue to our attention. 2. Contributing Factors This issue can occur in the following releases: SPARC Platform * AnswerBook2 Documentation Server versions 1.4.4 or earlier (for Solaris 7 and 8) x86 Platform * AnswerBook2 Documentation Server versions 1.4.4 or earlier (for Solaris 7 and 8) Notes: AnswerBook2 is no longer supported as of Solaris 9, therefore Solaris 9 and Solaris 10 are not affected. The "View Log Files" vulnerability only exists when using the AnswerBook2 Admin GUI interface, i.e. the following URL path on an AnswerBook2 server: http://ab2server.hostname:8888/ab2/@Ab2Admin To determine the version of the currently installed AnswerBook2 Server, the following command can be run: $ grep SUNW_PRODVERS /var/sadm/pkg/SUNWab2[rsu]/pkginfo /var/sadm/pkg/SUNWab2r/pkginfo:SUNW_PRODVERS=1.4.4 /var/sadm/pkg/SUNWab2s/pkginfo:SUNW_PRODVERS=1.4.4 /var/sadm/pkg/SUNWab2u/pkginfo:SUNW_PRODVERS=1.4.4 3. Symptoms There are no reliable symptoms that would indicate the described issues have been exploited. Solution Summary Top 4. Relief/Workaround Sites which have configured AnswerBook2 Documentation Servers should disable AnswerBook2 and instead refer to Sun documentation at the Sun Product Documentation web site 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 "root" user: # /usr/lib/ab2/bin/ab2admin -o stop # /usr/lib/ab2/bin/ab2admin -o autostart_no To avoid the "View Log Files" vulnerability, do not use the AnswerBook2 Admin GUI to view the AnswerBook2 log files; the ab2admin(1M) command should be used instead, as in the following example: $ /usr/lib/ab2/bin/ab2admin -o view_access [-m server_name] [-p server_port] 5. Resolution Please see the "Relief/Workaround" section for the resolution to this issue. 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 2000-2005 Sun Microsystems, Inc., 4150 Network Circle, Santa Clara, CA 95054 U.S.A. All rights reserved. [***** End Sun Alert ID: 57737 *****] _______________________________________________________________________________ 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. 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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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