__________________________________________________________ The U.S. Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability ___ __ __ _ ___ / | /_\ / \___ __|__ / \ \___ __________________________________________________________ INFORMATION BULLETIN Possible Security Issue with XView Text Clipboard [Sun Alert ID: 100881 (formerly 27525)] August 9, 2005 16:00 GMT Number P-264 ______________________________________________________________________________ PROBLEM: An unprivileged, local user might setup a scenario so that under certain circumstances an XView application on exit corrupts a system or user file. PLATFORM: SPARC Platform Solaris 2.5 Solaris 2.5.1 Solaris 2.6 Solaris 7 without patch 107374-03 Solaris 8 without patch 111626-04 Solaris 9 without patch 112811-02 Solaris 10 without patch 119903-01 x86 Platform Solaris 2.5 Solaris 2.5.1 Solaris 2.6 Solaris 7 without patch 107375-03 Solaris 8 without patch 111627-03 Solaris 9 without patch 119902-01 Solaris 10 without patch 119904-01 DAMAGE: An unprivileged, local user might setup a scenario so that under certain circumstances an XView application on exit corrupts a system or user file. SOLUTION: Upgrade to appropriate version. ______________________________________________________________________________ VULNERABILITY The risk is MEDIUM. XView applications running with root access ASSESSMENT: rights pose a risk to system files if no counter measures are taken. ______________________________________________________________________________ LINKS: CIAC BULLETIN: http://www.ciac.org/ciac/bulletins/p-264.shtml ORIGINAL BULLETIN: Sun Alert ID: 100881 (formerly 27525) http://www.sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey= 1-26-100881-1&searchclause=%22category:security%22%20%22 availability,%20security%22%20category:security ______________________________________________________________________________ [***** Start Sun Alert ID: 100881 (formerly 27525) *****] Sun(sm) Alert Notification Sun Alert ID: 100881 (formerly 27525) Synopsis: Possible Security Issue with XView Text Clipboard Category: Security Product: Solaris 2.5, Solaris 2.5.1, Solaris 2.6 Operating System, Solaris 7 Operating System, Solaris 8 Operating System BugIDs: 4459703 Avoidance: Patch, Upgrade, Workaround State: Resolved Date Released: 09-Jul-2001, 08-Aug-2005 Date Closed: 08-Aug-2005 Date Modified: 31-Mar-2005, 08-Aug-2005 1. Impact An unprivileged, local user might setup a scenario so that under certain circumstances an XView application on exit corrupts a system or user file. Only files for which the exiting XView application has modify permission (based only on the applications current user/group ID and file permissions) are at risk. Therefore, XView applications running with root access rights under certain circumstances pose a risk to system files if no counter measures are taken (please see the "Workaround" section below). 2. Contributing Factors This issue can occur in the following releases: SPARC Platform Solaris 2.5 Solaris 2.5.1 Solaris 2.6 Solaris 7 without patch 107374-03 Solaris 8 without patch 111626-04 Solaris 9 without patch 112811-02 Solaris 10 without patch 119903-01 x86 Platform Solaris 2.5 Solaris 2.5.1 Solaris 2.6 Solaris 7 without patch 107375-03 Solaris 8 without patch 111627-03 Solaris 9 without patch 119902-01 Solaris 10 without patch 119904-01 The exploit might only happen when an XView application exits. In addition, the exiting XView application must have a text subwindow that owns the clipboard selection. An application "owns" the clipboard selection if it is the application that most recently has copied text to the clipboard (e.g. by using the "Copy" key). To check if an application is an XView application, the "ldd" command might be used. In the resulting output, a line listing "libxview.so" would indicate an XView application. The issue described in this document can only be exploited by users already having an account on the affected system. 3. Symptoms There are no direct symptoms that would show the described issue has been exploited on a system. Solution Summary Top 4. Relief/Workaround As a possible workaround, users (and especially users running XView applications with root user privileges) should insure that before exiting an XView application, another application owns the clipboard selection. This can be achieved by copying text from another application to the clipboard (e.g. by using the "Copy" key). 5. Resolution This issue is addressed in the following releases: SPARC Platform Solaris 7 with patch 107374-03 or later Solaris 8 with patch 111626-04 or later Solaris 9 with patch 112811-02 or later Solaris 10 with patch 119903-01 or later x86 Platform Solaris 7 with patch 107375-03 or later Solaris 8 with patch 111627-03 or later Solaris 9 with patch 119902-01 or later Solaris 10 with patch 119904-01 or later Note: Solaris 2.5, 2.5.1 and 2.6 require an upgrade to Solaris 7 or later with installation of the associated patch to address this issue. Change History 31-Mar-2005: State: Resolved 08-Aug-2005: Updated Contributing Factors and Resolution sections 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: 100881 (formerly 27525) *****] _______________________________________________________________________________ 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. 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