-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

===========================================================================
              AUSCERT External Security Bulletin Redistribution
                             
             ESB-2000.102 -- SGI Security Advisory 20000501-01-P
                        Vulnerability in infosrch.cgi

                                 25 May 2000

===========================================================================

	AusCERT Security Bulletin Summary
	---------------------------------

Product:		infosrch.cgi
Vendor:			SGI
Operating System:	IRIX
Platform:		N/A

Impact:			Read-only Data Access
Access Required:	Remote

- --------------------------BEGIN INCLUDED TEXT--------------------

- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

______________________________________________________________________________
                          SGI Security Advisory

        Title:   Vulnerability in infosrch.cgi
        Number:  20000501-01-P
        Date:    May 22, 2000
______________________________________________________________________________

SGI provides this information freely to the SGI user community for its
consideration, interpretation, implementation and use.   SGI recommends
that this information be acted upon as soon as possible.

SGI provides the information in this Security Advisory on an "AS-IS" basis
only, and disclaims all warranties with respect thereto, express, implied
or otherwise, including, without limitation, any warranty of merchantability
or fitness for a particular purpose.  In no event shall SGI be liable for
any loss of profits, loss of business, loss of data or for any indirect,
special, exemplary, incidental or consequential damages of any kind arising
from your use of, failure to use or improper use of any of the instructions
or information in this Security Advisory.
______________________________________________________________________________


- - -----------------------
- - --- Issue Specifics ---
- - -----------------------

The Infosearch(1) subsystem is used to search and browse virtually all SGI
on-line documentation. The infosrch.cgi(1) is a program that allows access
to infosearch(1) through a default installed HTTP web server on port 80.

Unfortunately, a vulnerability has been discovered in infosrch.cgi(1) which
could allow any remote user to view files on the vulnerable system with
privileges of the user "nobody".

SGI has investigated the issue and recommends the following steps for
neutralizing the exposure.  It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that these measures
be implemented on ALL vulnerable SGI systems.  This issue has been
corrected in future releases of IRIX.


- - --------------
- - --- Impact ---
- - --------------

The infosrch.cgi(1) program is installed by default on IRIX.

A local account is not required to exploit this vulnerability.

This vulnerability can be utilized to view files on the local system with
the user privileges of "nobody".

This vulnerability has been publicly discussed in Usenet newsgroups
and mailing lists.


- - --------------------------
- - --- Temporary Solution ---
- - --------------------------

Although patches are available for this issue, it is realized that
there may be situations where installing the patches immediately may
not be possible.

The steps below can be used to disable the infosrch.cgi(1) program to
prevent exploitation of this vulnerability until patches can be installed.


     1) Become the root user on the system.

                % /bin/su -
                Password:
                #

     2) Change the permissions on the infosrch.cgi(1) program.


      =================
      **** WARNING ****
      =================

      Removing the permissions from the infosrch.cgi(1)
      program will prevent non-root users from using the Infosearch
      subsystem through the HTTP web server.


                # /bin/chmod 500 /usr/lib/infosearch/bin/infosrch.cgi


     3) Return to previous level.

                # exit
                %


- - ----------------
- - --- Solution ---
- - ----------------

   OS Version     Vulnerable?     Patch #      Other Actions
   ----------     -----------     -------      -------------

   IRIX 3.x       not tested                   Note 1
   IRIX 4.x       not tested                   Note 1
   IRIX 5.X       not tested                   Note 1
   IRIX 6.0.x-6.1 not tested                   Note 1
   IRIX 6.2          no                        Note 2
   IRIX 6.3-6.4   not tested                   Note 1
   IRIX 6.5-6.5.7    yes           6.5.8       Note 3 & 4
   IRIX 6.5.8        no                        Note 4


   NOTES

     1) This version of the IRIX operating has been retired.
        Upgrade to an actively supported IRIX operating system.
        See http://support.sgi.com/irix/news/index.html#policy
        for more information.

     2) This version of the IRIX operating system is in maintenance mode.
        Upgrade to an actively supported IRIX operating system.
        See http://support.sgi.com/irix/news/index.html#policy
        for more information.

     3) See "Temporary Solution" section.

     4) If you have not received the IRIX 6.5.8 CDs for IRIX 6.5, contact
        your SGI Support Provider or download the IRIX 6.5.8 Maintenance
        Release Stream from http://support.sgi.com/ or
        ftp://patches.sgi.com/support/relstream/

Patches are available via the web, anonymous FTP and from your SGI
service/support provider.

IRIX 5.2-6.4 Recommended/Required Patch Sets can be found at:
http://support.sgi.com/ and ftp://patches.sgi.com/support/patchset/

IRIX 6.5 Maintenance Release Streams can be found at:
http://support.sgi.com/ and ftp://patches.sgi.com/support/relstream/

IRIX Security Patchsets can be found at:
http://www.sgi.com/Support/security/ and ftp://sgigate.sgi.com/patches/

The primary SGI anonymous FTP site for security information and patches
is sgigate.sgi.com (204.94.209.1). Security information and patches can be
found in the ~ftp/security and ~ftp/patches directories, respectively.

For security and patch management reasons, ftp.sgi.com (mirror of sgigate) lags
behind and does not do a real-time update of ~ftp/security and ~ftp/patches


- - ------------------------
- - --- Acknowledgments ----
- - ------------------------

SGI wishes to thank the users of the Internet Community at large for their
assistance in this matter.


- - -----------------------------------------
- - --- SGI Security Information/Contacts ---
- - -----------------------------------------

If there are questions about this document, email can be sent to
cse-security-alert@sgi.com.

                      ------oOo------

SGI provides security information and patches for use by the entire SGI
community.  This information is freely available to any person needing
the information and is available via anonymous FTP and the Web.

The primary SGI anonymous FTP site for security information and patches
is sgigate.sgi.com (204.94.209.1).  Security information and patches
are located under the directories ~ftp/security and ~ftp/patches,
respectively.

The SGI Security Headquarters Web page is accessible at the URL:
http://www.sgi.com/support/security/

For issues with the patches on the FTP sites, email can be sent to
cse-security-alert@sgi.com.

For assistance obtaining or working with security patches, please
contact your SGI support provider.

                      ------oOo------

SGI provides a free security mailing list service called wiretap and
encourages interested parties to self-subscribe to receive (via email) all
SGI Security Advisories when they are released. Subscribing to the mailing
list can be done via the Web (http://www.sgi.com/support/security/wiretap.html)
or by sending email to SGI as outlined below.

% mail wiretap-request@sgi.com
subscribe wiretap <YourEmailAddress>
end
^d

In the example above, <YourEmailAddress> is the email address that you
wish the mailing list information sent to.  The word end must be on a
separate line to indicate the end of the body of the message. The
control-d (^d) is used to indicate to the mail program that you are
finished composing the mail message.


                      ------oOo------

SGI provides a comprehensive customer World Wide Web site. This site is
located at http://www.sgi.com/support/security/ .

                      ------oOo------

For reporting *NEW* SGI security issues, email can be sent to
security-alert@sgi.com or contact your SGI support provider.  A
support contract is not required for submitting a security report.

______________________________________________________________________________
      This information is provided freely to all interested parties
      and may be redistributed provided that it is not altered in any
      way, SGI is appropriately credited and the document retains and
      includes its valid PGP signature.


- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.2

iQCVAwUBOSmqILQ4cFApAP75AQFlwQP/QlexVYMYaGz9c4SBRrEIBE9JHL6beHwh
lnqlKMRAyvbJIiwhbGLxWGoACjoWuROUJg1lIIpKD675N7HffiLsI2VCyBN398/I
xY9mYxswSS/BU0QzzGLsLufO8A5In3o1WuYSl9qMf6Esu1begmLDYBbq28k+qfzY
FduKBWWVui8=
=eRBn
- -----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).
		On call after hours for emergencies.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.3i
Charset: noconv
Comment: ftp://ftp.auscert.org.au/pub/auscert/AUSCERT_PGP.key

iQCVAwUBOXXSrCh9+71yA2DNAQHZYQP/QmHlBpiwYcG/6ZTd+CxeJ4QwarD6hPAw
+kB9M4FNUr8ZrmHVOWBlkWi6LdQP0PEyLxL+R7fcamXDQYfgctMbRr9u4Ivv30As
q+wqOVQ7m5y5FJHKf38mFNi9nS90z8R86rGuaNrsqTU5h3YHimNkKgWvk+T3S5/a
8jsZ3RfrAaI=
=sBVy
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----