Published:
10 April 2000
Protect yourself against future threats.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- =========================================================================== AUSCERT External Security Bulletin Redistribution ESB-2000.066 -- FreeBSD-SA-00:12 healthd allows a local root compromise 11 April 2000 =========================================================================== The FreeBSD Security Team has released the following advisory concerning a vulnerability in healthd which monitors the temperature, fan speed and voltage levels of certain motherboards. This vulnerability may allow local users to obtain root privileges on affected systems. - --------------------------BEGIN INCLUDED TEXT-------------------- - -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- ============================================================================= FreeBSD-SA-00:12 Security Advisory FreeBSD, Inc. Topic: healthd allows a local root compromise Category: ports Module: healthd Announced: 2000-04-10 Credits: Discovered during FreeBSD ports collection auditing. Affects: Ports collection before the correction date. Corrected: 2000-03-25 Vendor status: Updated version released. FreeBSD only: NO I. Background healthd is a small utility for monitoring the temperature, fan speed and voltage levels of certain motherboards. II. Problem Description healthd v0.3 installs a utility which is setuid root in order to monitor the system status. This utility contains a trivial buffer overflow which allows an unprivileged local user to obtain root privileges on the system. The healthd port is not installed by default, nor is it "part of FreeBSD" as such: it is part of the FreeBSD ports collection, which contains over 3200 third-party applications in a ready-to-install format. The ports collection shipped with FreeBSD 4.0 contains this problem since it was discovered after the release. FreeBSD makes no claim about the security of these third-party applications, although an effort is underway to provide a security audit of the most security-critical ports. III. Impact A local user can obtain root privileges by exploiting a vulnerability in the healthd utility. If you have not chosen to install the healthd port/package, then your system is not vulnerable. IV. Workaround Remove the healthd port, if you you have installed it. V. Solution 1) Upgrade your entire ports collection and rebuild the healthd port. 2) Reinstall a new package dated after the correction date, obtained from: ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-3-stable/sysutils/healthd-0.3.tgz ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-3-stable/sysutils/healthd-0.3.tgz ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/alpha/packages-3-stable/sysutils/healthd-0.3.tgz ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-5-current/sysutils/healthd-0.3.tgz ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/alpha/packages-5-current/sysutils/healthd-0.3.tgz 3) download a new port skeleton for the healthd port from: http://www.freebsd.org/ports/ and use it to rebuild the port. 4) Use the portcheckout utility to automate option (3) above. The portcheckout port is available in /usr/ports/devel/portcheckout or the package can be obtained from: ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/packages/devel/portcheckout-1.0.tgz - -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBOPJABVUuHi5z0oilAQGEjgP/VQi4gknLQTpons+W/D3pT1fsk9F55HjQ 80pdBIfRxWNekFA+ZlfDNESLbG3qPyr+R4UaVxIZMnMVM/ZZRGPc/suYOxoHWZv0 F29AqveqINRewGHJoF+hw+DDGJPrrWy2t25BW9AX8KXPCJ2C1uiyChN+2egdJT5J EcTA8JgVU8I= =RtRI - -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- - --------------------------END INCLUDED TEXT-------------------- This security bulletin is provided as a service to AusCERT's members. As AusCERT did not write the document quoted above, AusCERT has had no control over its content. The decision to use any or all of this information is the responsibility of each user or organisation, and should be done so in accordance with site policies and procedures. NOTE: This is only the original release of the security bulletin. It may not be updated when updates to the original are made. If downloading at a later date, it is recommended that the bulletin is retrieved directly from the original authors to ensure that the information is still current. Contact information for the authors of the original document is included in the Security Bulletin above. If you have any questions or need further information, please contact them directly. Previous advisories and external security bulletins can be retrieved from: http://www.auscert.org.au/Information/advisories.html 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 7031 Telephone: (07) 3365 4417 (International: +61 7 3365 4417) AusCERT personnel answer during Queensland business hours which are GMT+10:00 (AEST). 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