Published:
29 December 1999
Protect yourself against future threats.
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AUSCERT External Security Bulletin Redistribution
ESB-1999.204 -- Sun Security Bulletin #00192
CDE and OpenWindows vulnerabilities
30 December 1999
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Sun Microsystems, Inc. have released the following bulletin announcing
patches for various vulnerabilities in CDE and OpenWindows. These
vulnerabilities were previously described in CERT CA-99-11 (redistributed
as AUSCERT ESB-1999.141).
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________________________________________________________________________________
Sun Microsystems, Inc. Security Bulletin
Bulletin Number: #00192
Date: December 29, 1999
Cross-Ref: CERT CA-99-11
Title: CDE and OpenWindows
________________________________________________________________________________
The information contained in this Security Bulletin is provided "AS IS."
Sun makes no warranties of any kind whatsoever with respect to the information
contained in this Security Bulletin. ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED CONDITIONS,
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OF NON-INFRINGEMENT OR
IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE
HEREBY DISCLAIMED AND EXCLUDED TO THE EXTENT ALLOWED BY APPLICABLE LAW.
IN NO EVENT WILL SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC. BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOST REVENUE,
PROFIT OR DATA, OR FOR DIRECT, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL
OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES HOWEVER CAUSED AND REGARDLESS OF ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY
ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN
THIS SECURITY BULLETIN, EVEN IF SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC. HAS BEEN ADVISED OF
THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
If any of the above provisions are held to be in violation of applicable law,
void, or unenforceable in any jurisdiction, then such provisions are waived
to the extent necessary for this disclaimer to be otherwise enforceable in
such jurisdiction.
________________________________________________________________________________
1. Bulletin Topics
Sun announces the release of patches for Solaris(tm) 7, 2.6, 2.5.1, 2.5,
2.4, 2.3 (SunOS(tm) 5.7, 5.6, 5.5.1, 5.5, 5.4, 5.3), and SunOS 4.1.4,
and 4.1.3_U1 which relate to various vulnerabilities in CDE and
OpenWindows.
Sun recommends that you install the patches listed in section 4
immediately on systems running SunOS 5.7, 5.6, 5.5.1, 5.5, 5.4, 5.3,
4.1.4, and 4.1.3_U1.
2. Who is Affected
Vulnerable: SunOS 5.7, 5.7_x86, 5.6, 5.6_x86, 5.5.1, 5.5, 5.4, 5.3,
4.1.4, and 4.1.3_U1.
Not vulnerable: All other supported versions of SunOS.
3. Understanding the Vulnerabilities
The following vulnerabilities have been identified.
3.1 ToolTalk ttsession default authentication mechanism insecure
The ToolTalk messaging utility, ttsession, allows independent
applications to communicate without having direct knowledge of
each other. The ttsession daemon is started automatically by
any program that needs to send or receive a ToolTalk message. It uses
AUTH_UNIX authentication by default. A local or remote attacker may
manipulate certain environment variables (which are used by ttsession
to determine how client messages are handled) to execute arbitrary
commands with the privileges of the running ttsession.
3.2 CDE dtspcd relies on file-system based authentication
The CDE desktop subprocess control program (dtspcd) is a network
daemon that accepts requests from clients to execute commands and
launch applications remotely. By manipulating predictable files used
for authentication, a local attacker may exploit this vulnerability
to execute arbitrary commands and gain root access.
3.3 CDE dtaction buffer overflow
The dtaction utility allows applications or shell scripts, which are
otherwise not connected into the CDE user environment, to request
CDE actions be performed. A buffer overflow vulnerability has been
discovered which may be exploited by a local attacker to execute
arbitrary instructions and gain root access.
3.4 CDE ToolTalk shared library buffer overflow in TT_SESSION
A buffer overflow vulnerability has been discovered in the ToolTalk
shared library which may be exploited by a local attacker to execute
arbitrary instructions and gain root access.
4. List of Patches
Patches for vulnerability described in section 3.1
SunOS version Patch ID
_____________ _________
5.7 107893-04
5.7_x86 107894-04
5.6 105802-11
5.6_x86 105803-13
5.5.1 104489-10
5.5.1_x86 105496-08
5.5 104428-08
5.5_x86 105495-06
5.4 102734-05
108636-01 (see Note 1)
5.4_x86 108641-01
108637-01 (see Note 1)
5.3 Patch will be available in 2 weeks
4.1.4, 4.1.3_U1 Patch will be available in 2 weeks
Note 1: Install patch if CDE 1.0.2 or 1.0.1 is installed.
Patches for vulnerability described in section 3.2
CDE version SunOS version Patch ID
___________ _____________ _________
1.3 5.7 108221-01
1.3_x86 5.7_x86 108222-01
1.2 5.6 108199-01
1.2_x86 5.6_x86 108200-01
1.0.2 5.5.1, 5.5, 5.4 108205-01
1.0.2_x86 5.5.1_x86, 5.5_x86, 5.4_x86 108206-01
1.0.1 5.5, 5.4 108252-01
1.0.1_x86 5.5_x86, 5.4_x86 108253-01
Patches for vulnerability described in section 3.3
CDE version SunOS version Patch ID
___________ _____________ _________
1.3 5.7 108219-01
1.3_x86 5.7_x86 108220-01
1.2 5.6 108201-01
1.2_x86 5.6_x86 108202-01
1.0.2 5.5.1, 5.5, 5.4 108289-02
1.0.2_x86 5.5.1_x86, 5.5_x86, 5.4_x86 108290-03
1.0.1 5.5, 5.4 108254-01
1.0.1_x86 5.5_x86, 5.4_x86 108255-01
Patches for vulnerability described in section 3.4
SunOS version Patch ID
_____________ _________
5.7 107893-04
5.7_x86 107894-04
5.6 105802-11
5.6_x86 105803-13
5.5.1 104489-10
5.5.1_x86 105496-08
5.5 104428-08
5.5_x86 105495-06
5.4 102734-05
108636-01 (see Note 2)
5.4_x86 108641-01
108637-01 (see Note 2)
5.3 101495-04
4.1.4, 4.1.3_U1 100626-10
Note 2: Install patch if CDE 1.0.2 or 1.0.1 is installed.
_______________________________________________________________________________
APPENDICES
A. Patches listed in this bulletin are available to all Sun customers at:
http://sunsolve.sun.com/pub-cgi/show.pl?target=patches/patch-license&nav=pub-patches
B. Checksums for the patches listed in this bulletin are available at:
ftp://sunsolve.sun.com/pub/patches/CHECKSUMS
C. Sun security bulletins are available at:
http://sunsolve.sun.com/pub-cgi/secBulletin.pl
D. Sun Security Coordination Team's PGP key is available at:
http://sunsolve.sun.com/pgpkey.txt
E. To report or inquire about a security problem with Sun software, contact
one or more of the following:
- Your local Sun Solution Center
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________________________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1999 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. Sun,
Sun Microsystems, Solaris and SunOS are trademarks or registered trademarks
of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. This
Security Bulletin may be reproduced and distributed, provided that this
Security Bulletin is not modified in any way and is attributed to
Sun Microsystems, Inc. and provided that such reproduction and distribution
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