Published:
10 February 1997
Protect yourself against future threats.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- =========================================================================== AUSCERT External Security Bulletin Redistribution ESB-97.020 -- Hewlett Packard Advisory on sendmail patches 11 February 1997 =========================================================================== HP have released the following security bulletin describing a vulnerability which may have been introduced as part of the installation of recent HP-UX sendmail patches. 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. - --------------------------BEGIN INCLUDED TEXT-------------------- Document ID: HPSBUX9701-054 Date Loaded: 970212 Title: Recent sendmail patches for HP-UX releases 9.X thru 10.10 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEWLETT-PACKARD SECURITY ADVISORY: #00054, 11 February 1997 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The information in the following Security Advisory should be acted upon as soon as possible. Hewlett Packard will not be liable for any consequences to any customer resulting from customer's failure to fully implement instructions in this Security Advisory as soon as possible. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- PROBLEM: Recent sendmail patches for HP-UX releases 9.X thru 10.10 PLATFORM: HP 9000 Series 700/800s running versions of HP-UX 9.X thru 10.10 DAMAGE: Allows unauthorized access. SOLUTION: Cleanse the password file as noted below on any machines which have ever had the following sendmail patches installed: PHNE_9621 on all platforms with HP-UX releases 9.X, PHNE_9622 on all platforms with HP-UX releases 10.00, 10.01, and 10.10, PHNE_10033 on all platforms with HP-UX releases 9.X, NOTE HP-UX release 10.20 is not affected AVAILABILITY: N/A - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. A. Background Since December 1996 three specific sendmail patches (PHNE_9621, PHNE_10033, and PHNE_9622) have been released by Hewlett-Packard Company. If installed, they incorrectly added new user and group entries in the password and group files. NOTE: HP-UX release 10.20 is not affected by this issue. B. Recommended solution The system administrator needs to perform the following commands on the command line only. Do not use SAM to fix this issue at this time. grep '^sm[0-9]*' /etc/passwd The suspect entries have a ",.." in the password field. That ",.." entry needs to be replaced with a "*". The change can be easily done with vipw (1M). Simply removing the patch will not remove these erroneous entries from the password file. The action above needs to be taken whether or not the patch is removed. C. To subscribe to automatically receive future NEW HP Security Bulletins from the HP SupportLine Digest service via electronic mail, do the following: 1) From your Web browser, access the URL: http://us-support.external.hp.com (US,Canada, Asia-Pacific, and Latin-America) http://europe-support.external.hp.com (Europe) 2) On the HP Electronic Support Center main screen, select the hyperlink "Support Information Digests". 3) On the "Welcome to HP's Support Information Digests" screen, under the heading "Register Now", select the appropriate hyperlink "Americas and Asia-Pacific", or "Europe". 4) On the "New User Registration" screen, fill in the fields for the User Information and Password and then select the button labeled "Submit New User". 5) On the "User ID Assigned" screen, select the hyperlink "Support Information Digests". ** Note what your assigned user ID and password are for future reference. 6) You should now be on the "HP Support Information Digests Main" screen. You might want to verify that your email address is correct as displayed on the screen. From this screen, you may also view/subscribe to the digests, including the security bulletins digest. To get a patch matrix of current HP-UX and BLS security patches referenced by either Security Bulletin or Platform/OS, click on following screens in order: Technical Knowledge Database Browse Security Bulletins Security Bulletins Archive HP-UX Security Patch Matrix D. To report new security vulnerabilities, send email to security-alert@hp.com Please encrypt any exploit information using the security-alert PGP key, available from your local key server, or by sending a message with a -subject- (not body) of 'get key' (no quotes) to security-alert@hp.com. Permission is granted for copying and circulating this Bulletin to Hewlett-Packard (HP) customers (or the Internet community) for the purpose of alerting them to problems, if and only if, the Bulletin is not edited or changed in any way, is attributed to HP, and provided such reproduction and/or distribution is performed for non-commercial purposes. Any other use of this information is prohibited. HP is not liable for any misuse of this information by any third party. _______________________________________________________________________ - -----End of Document ID: HPSBUX9701-054-------------------------------------- - --------------------------END INCLUDED TEXT-------------------- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.3i Charset: noconv Comment: ftp://ftp.auscert.org.au/pub/auscert/AUSCERT_PGP.key iQCVAwUBPMV4gyh9+71yA2DNAQGB6wP/STV/VgOoHlKaXQvh6i2tMm7D14bBlWPU /aIvgTBZ1b9VZzFieMI504F228HxXbbY5+/JGNYz24qHjZc3zGHLUmc+lJMyUv3e mPvuDHd0vDhOUlz1rZRA3eT3xFqXG/Rq93b7BPzjIR9EFX+u/9sh+wFDFpZTMx1A 1DQtqd8vIoc= =1/qr -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----