IRIX Mail(1)/mailx(1) Security Issues

From: SGI Security Coordinator (agent99at_private)
Date: Tue Sep 29 1998 - 16:17:59 PDT

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    ______________________________________________________________________________
                    Silicon Graphics Inc. Security Advisory
    
            Title:   IRIX Mail(1)/mailx(1) Security Issues
            Number:  19980605-01-PX
            Date:    September 29, 1998
    ______________________________________________________________________________
    
    Silicon Graphics provides this information freely to the SGI user community
    for its consideration, interpretation, implementation and use.   Silicon
    Graphics recommends that this information be acted upon as soon as possible.
    
    Silicon Graphics provides the information in this Security Advisory on
    an "AS-IS" basis only, and disclaims all warranties with respect thereto,
    express, implied or otherwise, including, without limitation, any warranty
    of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.  In no event shall
    Silicon Graphics be liable for any loss of profits, loss of business, loss
    of data or for any indirect, special, exemplary, incidental or consequential
    damages of any kind arising from your use of, failure to use or improper
    use of any of the instructions or information in this Security Advisory.
    ______________________________________________________________________________
    
    
    - -------------------------
    - ----- Issue Specifics ---
    - -------------------------
    
    The Mail(1), also know as mail_bsd, and mailx(1) programs are used to send and
    receive mail.
    
    A buffer overrun was discovered in mailx(1) program that will allow an intruder
    to manipulate any file that is owned by the mail group.
    
    A security vulnerability was discovered in the Mail(1) program which can lead
    to a root compromise.
    
    Silicon Graphics Inc. has investigated the issue and recommends the
    following steps for neutralizing the exposure.  It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
    that these measures be implemented on ALL vulnerable SGI systems.  This
    issue will be corrected in future releases of IRIX.
    
    
    - ----------------
    - ----- Impact ---
    - ----------------
    
    The Mail(1)/mailx(1) program are installed by default on IRIX.
    
    A user account on the vulnerable system is required in order to exploit
    Mail(1)/mailx(1) locally and remotely.
    
    The mailx(1) exploit can lead to mail group privileges.
    
    The Mail(1) exploit can lead to root compromise of the system.
    
    These vulnerabilities have been publicly discussed in Usenet newsgroups
    and mailing lists.
    
    
    - ----------------------------
    - ----- Temporary Solution ---
    - ----------------------------
    
    Although patches are available for this issue, it is realized that
    there may be situations where installing the patches immediately may
    not be possible.
    
    The steps below can be used to remove the vulnerability by removing
    the permissions of the Mail(1)/mailx(1) program.
    
    
    
         1) Become the root user on the system.
    
                    % /bin/su -
                    Password:
                    #
    
    
         2) Remove the permissions on the vulnerable programs.
    
                    # /bin/chmod 555 /usr/sbin/mailx
                    # /bin/chmod 500 /usr/sbin/Mail
    
    
                               ************
                               *** NOTE ***
                               ************
    
                Removing group and other permissions from /usr/sbin/Mail
                will prevent non-root users from accessing the Mail(1) program.
    
    
    
         4) Verify the new permissions on the program.
            Note that the program size may be different depending on release.
    
                    # ls -al /usr/sbin/mailx /usr/sbin/Mail
    
                    -r-xr-xr-x    1 root  mail  171204 May 22 16:29 /usr/sbin/mailx
                    -r-x------    1 root  mail  165864 Feb 12  1996 /usr/sbin/Mail
    
         5) Return to previous user level.
    
                    # exit
                    %
    
    
    
    - ------------------
    - ----- Solution ---
    - ------------------
    
    
       OS Version     Vulnerable?     Patch #          Other Actions
       ----------     -----------     -------          -------------
    
       IRIX 3.x          yes          not avail        Note 1, 2 & 3
       IRIX 4.x          yes          not avail        Note 1, 2 & 3
       IRIX 5.0.x        yes          not avail        Note 1, 2 & 3
       IRIX 5.1.x        yes          not avail        Note 1, 2 & 3
       IRIX 5.2          yes          not avail        Note 1, 2 & 3
       IRIX 5.3          yes           3347
       IRIX 6.0.x        yes          not avail        Note 1, 2 & 3
       IRIX 6.1          yes          not avail        Note 1, 2 & 3
       IRIX 6.2          yes           3348
       IRIX 6.3          yes           3394
       IRIX 6.4          yes           3394
       IRIX 6.5          yes          not avail        Note 4
       IRIX 6.5.1m       yes           3393            Note 5
    
       NOTES
    
         1) Upgrade to currently supported IRIX operating system.
         2) See "Temporary Solution" section for a workaround.
         3) Unsupported by SGI, "freeware" sendmail distributions can be found at
            http://www.sendmail.org/
         4) For IRIX 6.5, you must first install IRIX 6.5.1 Maintenance Release
            and then install patch 3393. If you have not received an IRIX
            6.5.1m CD for IRIX 6.5, contact your SGI Support Provider
            or download the Maintenance Release from http://support.sgi.com/
         5) Patchsets have been replaced with quarterly Maintenance Releases
            Streams starting with IRIX 6.5. Information about Maintenance Release
            Streams can be found in the IRIX 6.5 Technical Brief at:
            http://www.sgi.com/software/irix6.5/
    
    
    
    
    Patches are available via anonymous FTP and your service/support provider.
    
    The SGI anonymous FTP site is sgigate.sgi.com (204.94.209.1) or its
    mirror, ftp.sgi.com.  Security information and patches can be found
    in the ~ftp/security and ~ftp/patches directories, respectively.
    
    
    
                     ##### Patch File Checksums ####
    
    The actual patch will be a tar file containing the following files:
    
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    - --------------------------
    - ----- Acknowledgments ---
    - --------------------------
    
    Silicon Graphics wishes to thank the University of Alaska Fairbanks
    Arctic Region Supercomputing Center and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
    for their assistance in this matter.
    
    
    - -------------------------------------------------------------
    - ----- Silicon Graphics Inc. Security Information/Contacts ---
    - -------------------------------------------------------------
    
    If there are questions about this document, email can be sent to
    cse-security-alertat_private
    
                          ------oOo------
    
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    The primary SGI anonymous FTP site for security information and patches
    is sgigate.sgi.com (204.94.209.1).  Security information and patches
    are located under the directories ~ftp/security and ~ftp/patches,
    respectively. The Silicon Graphics Security Headquarters Web page is
    accessible at the URL http://www.sgi.com/Support/security/security.html.
    
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    cse-security-alertat_private
    
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    contact your SGI support provider.
    
                          ------oOo------
    
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                          ------oOo------
    
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                          ------oOo------
    
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    ______________________________________________________________________________
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