HPSBUX9607-033
Published: 1996-12-04 00:00:00
Updated: 1996-12-04 00:00:00
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**REVISED 01**HEWLETT-PACKARD SECURITY BULLETIN: #00033, 04 Dec 1996
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Hewlett-Packard Company recommends that 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: **REVISED 01** Vulnerability in /usr/lib/expreserve in HP-UX
9.X and 10.X
PLATFORM: HP 9000 series 300/400s and 700/800s
DAMAGE: The default permissions of file expreserve(1) are in error,
thereby allowing users to potentially gain root privileges
on the host.
SOLUTION: Apply patch PHCO_6363 (series 700/800, HP-UX 9.x), or
PHCO_7833 (series 300/400, HP-UX 9.x), or
PHCO_8652 (series 700/800, HP-UX 10.0X), or
PHCO_8653 (series 700/800, HP-UX 10.10), or
PHCO_8654 (series 700/800, HP-UX 10.20).
Perform the actions described below in releases of HP-UX prior
to 9.X.)
AVAILABILITY: All patches are available now.
CHANGE SUMMARY: New patches available for releases of HP-UX 10.XX.
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I. Update
A. Additional patches for HP-UX have been released to address the
vulnerability originally appearing in the 18 July 1996 version of
this bulletin.
A private communication to HP described a vulnerability that allows
ordinary users to potentially gain super-user privileges.
The default permission for the file /usr/lib/expreserve (or on HP-UX
10.X /usr/lbin/expreserve) needs only minimal privileges. If the
patches mentioned above are applied the vulnerability cannot be
exploited.
In case no patches is available for your host HP-UX release, system
administrators are asked to perform the following action to achieve
the same result.
B. Fixing the problem
The vulnerability can be eliminated from releases 9.X of HP-UX
by applying a patch. Since some patches will not be made available
on some releases of HP-UX (e.g., prior to 9.X), affected systems can
be protected by system administrators.
They should:
$ su root
# chmod 0555 /usr/lib/expreserve
For HP-UX 10.X systems applying the patches specified above is now in
order.
Hewlett-Packard recommends that all customers concerned with the
security of their HP-UX systems either apply the appropriate
patch or perform the actions described above as soon as possible.
C. How to Install the Patch
1. Determine which patch is appropriate for your hardware platform
and operating system:
PHCO_6363 (series 700/800, HP-UX 9.x), or
PHCO_7833 (series 300/400, HP-UX 9.x),
PHCO_8652 (series 700/800, HP-UX 10.0X), or
PHCO_8653 (series 700/800, HP-UX 10.10), or
PHCO_8654 (series 700/800, HP-UX 10.20).
2. Hewlett Packard's HP-UX patches are available via email
and World Wide Web
To obtain a copy of the HP SupportLine email service user's
guide, send the following in the TEXT PORTION OF THE MESSAGE
to support@us.external.hp.com (no Subject is required):
send guide
The users guide explains the HP-UX patch downloading process
via email and other services available.
World Wide Web service for downloading of patches
is available via our URL:
(http://us.external.hp.com)
3. Apply the patch to your HP-UX system.
4. Examine /tmp/update.log (in 9.X) or /var/adm/sw/swinstall.log
(in 10.X), for any relevant WARNINGs or ERRORs.
D. Impact
These patches for HP-UX releases 9.X and 10.X provide a proper
permissions /usr/lib/expreserve which fixes the vulnerability. No
patches will be available for versions of HP-UX older than 9.X.
Instead, the workaround is described above.
E. To subscribe to automatically receive future NEW HP Security
Bulletins from the HP SupportLine Digest service via electronic
mail, do the following:
1) From your Web browser, access the URL:
http://us-support.external.hp.com (US,Canada,
Asia-Pacific, and Latin-America)
http://europe-support.external.hp.com (Europe)
2) On the HP Electronic Support Center main screen,
select the hyperlink "Support Information Digests".
3) On the "Welcome to HP's Support Information Digests"
screen, under the heading "Register Now", select the
appropriate hyperlink "Americas and Asia-Pacific", or "Europe".
4) On the "New User Registration" screen, fill in the fields
for the User Information and Password and then select the
button labeled "Submit New User".
5) On the "User ID Assigned" screen, select the hyperlink
"Support Information Digests".
**Note what your assigned user ID and password are for future
reference.
6) You should now be on the "HP Support Information Digests
Main" screen. You might want to verify that your email address
is correct as displayed on the screen. From this screen, you
may also view/subscribe to the digests, including the security
bulletins digest.
F. To report new security vulnerabilities, send email to
security-alert@hp.com
Please encrypt 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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