Security Hole in Unix / Linux Systems
John Mosier
plug-discuss@lists.plug.mybutt.net
Wed, 16 Jan 2002 09:43:27 -0700
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>CERT: EXPLOIT CIRCULATING FOR CDE HOLE
>Posted January 15, 2002 05:32 Pacific Time
>HACKERS ARE ACTIVELY exploiting a known vulnerability in Sun Microsystems
>Inc.'s Solaris version of the Unix operating system, security experts said
>late Monday, urging administrators to check if their system is vulnerable.
>The U.S.-government funded Computer Emergency Response Team/Coordination
>Center (CERT/CC) at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh said in an
>advisory that it had received "credible reports" of an exploit for Solaris
>systems. An exploit is a software tool that can be used to break into
>computer systems and that is often used by hackers.
>The exploit takes advantage of a buffer overflow vulnerability that was
>first discovered in March 1999. The flaw in a library function used by the
>CDE (Common Desktop Environment) could allow an attacker to take full
>control over the system, CERT/CC said. CDE is a graphical user interface
>that is typically installed by default on Unix systems.
>CDE is "a fairly widespread product on Unix platforms" and is included in
>products from Sun Microsystems Inc., IBM Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and
>Compaq Computer Corp., according to Art Manion, an Internet security
>analyst with CERT/CC.
>The CDE Subprocess Control Service (dtspcd) is a network daemon that
>accepts requests from remote clients to execute commands and launch
>programs remotely. The service does not perform adequate input validation,
>as a result of which a malicious client could manipulate data sent and
>cause a buffer overflow, according to CERT/CC.
>CERT/CC advises administrators to check if a system is configured to run
>dtspcd by looking for the entries "dtspc 6112/tcp" in "/etc/services" and
>"dtspc stream tcp nowait root /usr/dt/bin/dtspcd /usr/dt/bin/dtspcd" in
>"/etc/inetd.conf".
>Many Unix and Linux flavors are vulnerable and many vendors have long
>issued patches to fix the problem. Any system that does not run dtspcd is
>not vulnerable to this problem.
>For the full story:
>http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/01/15/020115hncert.xml?0116weam
John Mosier, Excelco, Inc. NEW contact info: Free: 866 225-3605
Fax: (480) 922-6504 Voice: (480) 922-6500
http://www.swinfo.com http://www.excelco.com
8233 Via Paseo del Norte, Ste E-300, Scottsdale, AZ 85258
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<blockquote type=cite cite>CERT: EXPLOIT CIRCULATING FOR CDE HOLE <br>
Posted January 15, 2002 05:32 Pacific Time <br>
HACKERS ARE ACTIVELY exploiting a known vulnerability in Sun Microsystems
Inc.'s Solaris version of the Unix operating system, security experts
said late Monday, urging administrators to check if their system is
vulnerable.</blockquote><br>
<blockquote type=cite cite>The U.S.-government funded Computer Emergency
Response Team/Coordination Center (CERT/CC) at Carnegie Mellon University
in Pittsburgh said in an advisory that it had received "credible
reports" of an exploit for Solaris systems. An exploit is a software
tool that can be used to break into computer systems and that is often
used by hackers.<br>
The exploit takes advantage of a buffer overflow vulnerability that was
first discovered in March 1999. The flaw in a library function used by
the CDE (Common Desktop Environment) could allow an attacker to take full
control over the system, CERT/CC said. CDE is a graphical user interface
that is typically installed by default on Unix systems.<br>
CDE is "a fairly widespread product on Unix platforms" and is
included in products from Sun Microsystems Inc., IBM Corp.,
Hewlett-Packard Co. and Compaq Computer Corp., according to Art Manion,
an Internet security analyst with CERT/CC.<br>
The CDE Subprocess Control Service (dtspcd) is a network daemon that
accepts requests from remote clients to execute commands and launch
programs remotely. The service does not perform adequate input
validation, as a result of which a malicious client could manipulate data
sent and cause a buffer overflow, according to
CERT/CC.</blockquote><br>
<blockquote type=cite cite>CERT/CC advises administrators to check if a
system is configured to run dtspcd by looking for the entries "dtspc
6112/tcp" in "/etc/services" and "dtspc stream tcp
nowait root /usr/dt/bin/dtspcd /usr/dt/bin/dtspcd" in
"/etc/inetd.conf".<br>
Many Unix and Linux flavors are vulnerable and many vendors have long
issued patches to fix the problem. Any system that does not run dtspcd is
not vulnerable to this problem.<br>
For the full story:
<a href="http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/01/15/020115hncert.xml?0116weam" eudora="autourl"><font color="#0000FF"><u>http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/01/15/020115hncert.xml?0116weam</a></font></u>
</blockquote><br>
<div>John Mosier, Excelco, Inc. NEW contact info: Free: 866 225-3605</div>
<br>
<div>Fax: (480) 922-6504 Voice: (480) 922-6500</div>
<div><a href="http://www.swinfo.com/" EUDORA=AUTOURL>http://www.swinfo.com</a> <a href="http://www.excelco.com/" EUDORA=AUTOURL>http://www.excelco.com</a></div>
<div>8233 Via Paseo del Norte, Ste E-300, Scottsdale, AZ 85258</div>
<br>
<br>
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