Security Vulnerability in CDE ttsession

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              AUSCERT External Security Bulletin Redistribution
                             
             ESB-1999.143 -- HP SECURITY BULLETIN HPSBUX9909-103
                   Security Vulnerability in CDE ttsession
                              16 September 1999

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Hewlett-Packard has released the following bulletin concerning
vulnerabilities in the Common Desktop Environment (CDE) as distributed
under HP-9000 Series 700/800 HP-UX releases 10.X & 11.00.  The
vulnerabilities are due to weak authentication mechanisms and buffer
overflows in various CDE programs and libraries.

These vulnerabilities may allow local and remote users to gain root access.

Please note: This bulletin updates information released in AUSCERT
External Security Bulletin ESB-1999.141: "CERT Advisory CA-99-11 - Four
Vulnerabilities in the Common Desktop Environment."

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Document ID:  HPSBUX9909-103
Date Loaded:  19990914
      Title:  Security Vulnerability in CDE ttsession

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HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY SECURITY BULLETIN: #00103, 14 Sept 1999
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The information in the following Security Bulletin should be acted upon
as soon as possible.  Hewlett-Packard Company will not be liable for any
consequences to any customer resulting from customer's failure to fully
implement instructions in this Security Bulletin as soon as possible.

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PROBLEM:  ttsession uses weak RPC authentication mechanism.

PLATFORM: HP-9000 Series 700/800 HP-UX releases 10.X & 11.00 running CDE.

DAMAGE:   Allows remote and local users to execute programs with the
          privileges of the running ttsession.

SOLUTION: Install the applicable patch.

AVAILABILITY: The patches for 10.20 and 11.00 are available now.

          NOTE: This bulletin will be revised when other patches
                are available.
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I.
   A. Background
      This problem has been reported in CERT Advisory CA-99-11.

      The advisory reports four vulnerabilities:

        #1: ToolTalk ttsession uses weak RPC authentication mechanism,
        #2: CDE dtspcd relies on file-system based authentication,
        #3: CDE dtaction buffer overflow,
        #4: CDE ToolTalk shared library buffer overflow in TT_SESSION.

      With the patches recommended in previous security bulletins
      HP-UX releases 10.X and 11.00 are not vulnerable to #2, #3, nor #4.

      To avoid vulnerability #1 install the applicable patch below.

   B. Fixing the problem - Install the applicable patch:
              HP-UX release 10.10      In progress;
              HP-UX release 10.20      PHSS_19747;
              HP-UX release 10.24      In progress;
              HP-UX release 11.00      PHSS_19748.

      Note:  HP-UX release 10.30 was a development release prior to
             the availability of HP-UX release 11.00.  HP-UX release
             10.30 will not be patched.

   C. To subscribe to automatically receive future NEW HP Security
      Bulletins from the HP Electronic Support Center via electronic
      mail, do the following:

      Use your browser to get to the HP Electronic Support Center page
      at:

        http://us-support.external.hp.com
               (for US, Canada, Asia-Pacific, & Latin-America)
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      Login with your user ID and password (or register for one).
      Remember to save the User ID assigned to you, and your password.
      Once you are in the Main Menu:
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        click on "Support Information Digests".
      To -review- bulletins already released from the main Menu,
        click on the "Search Technical Knowledge Database."

      Near the bottom of the next page, click on "Browse the HP
      Security Bulletin Archive".
      Once in the archive there is another link to our current Security
      Patch Matrix.  Updated daily, this matrix categorizes security
      patches by platform/OS release, and by bulletin topic.

      The security patch matrix is also available via anonymous ftp:

      us-ffs.external.hp.com
      ~ftp/export/patches/hp-ux_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.
________________________________________________________________________
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