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              AUSCERT External Security Bulletin Redistribution

                             
                  ESB-97.077 -- Sun Security Bulletin #00145
               Vulnerabilities with Solaris Solstice AdminSuite

                              26 June 1997

===========================================================================

Sun Microsystems, Inc has released the following advisory concerning a
number of vulnerabilities in the Solaris Solstice AdminSuite package.
All these vulnerabilities may allow users to gain root privileges.

The following security bulletin is provided as a service to AUSCERT's
members.  As AUSCERT did not write this document, AUSCERT has had no
control over its content.  As such, the decision to use any or all of this
information is the responsibility of each user or organisation, and should
be done so in accordance with site policies and procedures.

Contact information for Sun Microsystems, Inc is included in the Security
Bulletin below.  If you have any questions or need further information,
please contact them directly.

Previous advisories and external security bulletins can be retrieved from:

	http://www.auscert.org.au/information/advisories.html

If you believe that your system has been compromised, contact AUSCERT or your
representative in FIRST (Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams).

Internet Email: auscert@auscert.org.au
Facsimile:      (07) 3365 4477
Telephone:      (07) 3365 4417 (International: +61 7 3365 4417)
	AUSCERT personnel answer during Queensland business hours
	which are GMT+10:00 (AEST).
	On call after hours for emergencies.


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 		   Sun Microsystems, Inc. Security Bulletin
 		
Bulletin Number:	#00145
Date:               June 25 1997
Cross-Ref:		
Title:              Vulnerabilities with Solaris Solstice AdminSuite

- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Permission is granted for the redistribution of this Bulletin, so long
as the Bulletin is not edited and is attributed to Sun
Microsystems. Portions may also be excerpted for re-use in other
security advisories so long as proper attribution is included.

Any other use of this information without the express written consent
of Sun Microsystems is prohibited. Sun Microsystems expressly
disclaims all liability for any misuse of this information by any
third party.
- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.  Bulletins Topics

    Sun announces the release of patches for Solaris Solstice
    AdminSuite (AdminSuite) releases 2.1 and 2.2.

    Sun strongly recommends that you install the patches listed in
    section 4 immediately on every affected system.

    Sun also strongly recommends that you apply the additional
    measures listed in section 5 to correct permission problems that
    may exist with your NIS+ passwd table and NIS (YP) map source
    file.

2.  Who is Affected
	
       Vulnerable:	Sites using AdminSuite 2.1 and 2.2

       The problems are fixed in AdminSuite 2.3.

3.  Understanding the Vulnerabilities

    AdminSuite is a package which provides graphical user interfaces
    to perform various system administration tasks such as managing
    users, groups, and hosts.

3.1 Problems with AdminSuite 2.1

    AdminSuite 2.1 uses excessive permissions when adding new users to
    the NIS+ passwd table. This allows users to change their password
    table entries to become root. This problem has been fixed in
    AdminSuite 2.2.

    AdminSuite 2.1 incorrectly changes the permissions on the source
    file used to build the NIS (YP) passwd map.  As a result, it may
    be possible for any user to edit the /etc/passwd file. This
    problem has been fixed in AdminSuite 2.2.

    AdminSuite 2.1 creates temporary files in an insecure manner when
    updating a NIS (YP) database. As a result, it may be possible to
    manipulate AdminSuite into over-writing arbitrary files on the
    system including the NIS (YP) map source file. This problem has
    been fixed in AdminSuite 2.2.

3.2 Problems with AdminSuite 2.1 and 2.2

    AdminSuite 2.1 and 2.2 creates lock files insecurely which may be
    exploited to gain root access.

    AdminSuite 2.1 and 2.2 Database Manager "save" option executes
    under setgid bin privileges for non-privileged users. This may be
    exploited by non-privileged users to gain root access.

4.  List of Patches
 
    The vulnerabilities relating to AdminSuite 2.1 and 2.2 are fixed
    by the following patches:
 
    AdminSuite version  Patch ID
    ------------------  --------
    2.1 (sparc)     103235-08
    2.1 (x86)       103236-08
    2.2 (sparc)     103502-04
    2.2 (x86)       103503-03

5.  Additional measures

5.1 AdminSuite 2.1 uses excessive permissions when adding new users to
    NIS+.  The patch listed in section 5 fixes this problem. However,
    users that were created prior to the application of this patch may
    have excessive permissions. Therefore you should check the passwd
    table for entries with excessive permissions with a program such
    as the following:

      # awk program to check for NIS+ entries with excessive
      # permissions

      function readNlines(n)
      {
        for (i = n; i > 0; i--)
          getline
      }

      /Access.+ ....rmcd/ {
          readNlines(6)
          print substr($5, 2, length($5) - 2)
          }

    Put the program in a file and run it with the following command
    pipeline:

      % niscat -o '[]passwd.org_dir' | nawk -f <progfile>

    and the name field of each passwd table entry with excessive
    permissions will be printed one per line on stdout.

    Note that the program only checks for the type of excessive
    permissions generated by the AdminSuite 2.1 problem described
    above.

    If the program above reveals entries with excessive permissions,
    then you can take a look at them with the following command:

	    % niscat -o '[name=user]passwd.org_dir'

    One line of the output will look similiar to the following:

              Access Rights : ----rmcdr---r---
                                  ^^^^
    This allows the owner to read, modify, change, and delete
    information.

    The rights at this level should be more restrictive and they
    should be changed. To restore the permissions to what they were
    intended to be for one entry, do the following (you must have
    table modify permissions):

            % nischmod o=r,ngw-rmdc '[name=user]passwd.org_dir'

    Or for each entry in the whole table at once, do the following:

            % nischmod o=r,ngw-rmdc '[]passwd.org_dir'

    This sets the owner permissions to r (read) and removes all
    permissions from nobody, group, and world.

    Please note this will only change the permissions on a per-entry
    basis and will not change the table or column permissions.

5.2 AdminSuite 2.1 also incorrectly changes the permissions on the
    source file used to build the NIS (YP) passwd map. The patch
    listed in section 4 fixes this problem, but after installing the
    patch, you should verify that the passwd map source file has a
    file mode of 644 (or more restrictive, depending on your
    preferences), and is owned by root.

6.  Checksum Table

    The checksum table below shows the BSD checksums (SunOS 5.x:
    /usr/ucb/sum), SVR4 checksums (SunOS 5.x: /usr/bin/sum), and the
    MD5 digital signatures for the above-mentioned patches that are
    available from:

     	<URL:ftp://sunsolve1.sun.com/pub/patches/patches.html>
     	
    These checksums may not apply if you obtain patches from your
    answer centers.

  File Name         BSD          SVR4         MD5
- - ---------------   ----------   ---------    --------------------------------

103235-08.tar.Z   56327 3360  46627 6719    B2B8E921C50311737EF53C1C9C47DFD2
103236-08.tar.Z   04175 2027  10154 4054    7FC98A5F8BFA44B884A55A1BED826BA3
103502-04.tar.Z   24231  954  10762 1907    CFE2B561C3D382A121F4E064635695D7
103503-03.tar.Z   32779  331  45751 662     1B80A52FC690FB7EA7D6E23524E65849

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Sun acknowledges, with thanks, AUSCERT and Marko Laakso (University of
Oulu, Finland) for their assistance in the preparation of this
bulletin.

Sun and AUSCERT are members of FIRST, the Forum of Incident Response
and Security Teams. For more information about FIRST, visit the FIRST
web site at <URL:http://www.first.org/>.
- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

APPENDICES

A.  Patches listed in this bulletin are available to all Sun customers via
    World Wide Web at:

    	<URL:ftp://sunsolve1.sun.com/pub/patches/patches.html>
    	
    Customers with Sun support contracts can also obtain patches from local
    Sun answer centers and SunSITEs worldwide.

B.  Sun security bulletins are available via World Wide Web at:

	<URL:http://sunsolve1.sun.com/sunsolve/secbulletins>
	
C.  To report or inquire about a security problem with Sun software, contact
    one or more of the following:

        - Your local Sun answer centers
        - Your representative computer security response team, such as CERT
        - Sun Security Coordination Team. Send email to:
	
     		security-alert@sun.com

D.  To receive information or subscribe to our CWS (Customer Warning System)
    mailing list, send email to:

    		security-alert@sun.com

    with a subject line (not body) containing one of the following commands:

        Command         Information Returned/Action Taken
        -------         ---------------------------------

        help            An explanation of how to get information

        key             Sun Security Coordination Team's PGP key
	
        list            A list of current security topics

        query [topic]   The email is treated as an inquiry and is forwarded
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        report [topic]  The email is treated as a security report and is
                        forwarded to the Security Coordinaton Team. Please
                        encrypt sensitive mail using Sun Security
                        Coordination Team's PGP key

        send topic      A short status summary or bulletin. For example,
                        to retrieve a Security Bulletin #00138, supply
                        the following in the subject line (not body):
        		
                                send #138

        subscribe       Sender is added to our mailing list.  To subscribe,
                        supply the following in the subject line (not body):

                            	subscribe cws your-email-address
			
                        Note that your-email-address should be substituted
                        by your email address.
			
        unsubscribe     Sender is removed from the CWS mailing list.
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