Re: iplanet calendar server 5.0p2 exposes Netscape Admin Servermaster password

From: Adam Laurie (adamat_private)
Date: Tue May 01 2001 - 02:40:12 PDT

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    Marina.Davidovichat_private wrote:
    >
    > The LDAP server behind the iPlanet calendar server is not the same master LDAP
    > server which is used to contain user/group profiles, passwords, ACLs, SSL
    > certificates, or other sensitive company information.  It is only used to store
    > calendar-specific data and user preferences related to their calendar.  The
    > attached document describes the interaction of the iPlanet calendar server with
    > this calendar-specific database and has been signed-off by both the security and
    > architectural committees (see iPlanet Calendar Authentication and Registration
    > section, pg 8).
    
    from the calendar installation guide
    (http://docs.iplanet.com/docs/manuals/calendar/ics50/ig/icsigprp.htm#1017976):
    
      "If your users are already stored in an LDAP directory, the simplest
      solution for deploying iPlanet Calendar Server is to upgrade your
      directory server to Netscape Directory Server 4.12 (or later) which
      supports the schema extensions that enable users to access iPlanet
      Calendar Server data. Otherwise, you can modify your directory schema
      manually to allow your users to access to iPlanet Calendar Server
    data."
    
    the installation process requests admin username & password to your
    existing LDAP server (a prerequisite for the install), and installs the
    required schema updates. to do this it needs "root" access to the LDAP
    server. it then stores the supplied username and password in the file
    ics.conf, preceded by the comment:
    
      ! WARNING: DO NOT CHANGE OR DELETE THE FOLLOWING CONFIGURATION FILE
    ENTRY.
      ! THIS ENTRY WAS AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED BY THE INSTALLATION PROGRAM.
      ! IT IS USED ONLY BY THE INSTALLATION AND UNINSTALLATION PROGRAMS.
      ! THIS ENTRY IS COMPLETELY IGNORED BY ALL OF THE INSTALLED PRODUCTS.
      ! IF YOU CHANGE OR DELETE THIS ENTRY, THE INSTALLATION AND
    UNINSTALLATION
      ! PROGRAMS COULD FAIL THE NEXT TIME THEY ARE RUN.
    
    and the entry itself:
    
      ! Bind credentials (password) for user specified in
    local.authldapbinddn.
      local.authldapbindcred = "oopsilostmypassword"
      !
      ! DN used to bind to LDAP authentication host to search for user's dn.
      local.authldapbinddn =
    "uid=admin,ou=Administrators,ou=TopologyManagement,o=NetscapeRoot"
    
    the LDAP server is usually a Netscape Directory Server. installation
    notes from that product
    (http://home.netscape.com/eng/server/directory/4.1/install/prepare.htm#1016382)
    say:
    
      "All 4.x Netscape servers use an instance of the Directory Server to
    store configuration information. This information is stored in the
    o=NetscapeRoot directory tree. Your configuration directory is the
    Directory Server that contains the o=NetscapeRoot tree used by your
    Netscape servers."
    
    the above server is administered by the netscape admin console
    (/usr/netscape/server4/startconsole). using the username & password
    provided earlier, and now found in ics.conf, full administrative access
    to the Directory Server is granted, including access to SSL certs and
    any other Netscape product information stored on that server.
    
    > The ics.conf configuration file does contain information about the
    > calendar-specific LDAP server so that the calendar server processes can connect
    > to it.
    
    indeed. the calendar specific entries would appear to be:
    
      ! User specified as the iPlanet Calendar Server administrator.
      service.admin.calmaster.userid = "calmaster"
      ! Bind credentials (password) for user specified in
    service.admin.calmaster.user id.
      service.admin.calmaster.cred = "fubar"
    
    > The ownership on the file is icsuser and group is icsgroup.  The
    > security mode on this file does not need to allow read access by anyone who is
    > not in the icsgroup.  Thus, the permissions may be set to - r w - r - - - - -
    > with no adverse effects.  This will secure the administrative access to this
    > calendar-specific LDAP serve.
    
    i suggest iplanet do that by default then.
    
    cheers,
    Adam
    --
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