Note: This is an archival copy of Security Sun Alert 233284 as previously published on http://sunsolve.sun.com.
Latest version of this security advisory is available from http://support.oracle.com as Sun Alert 1019015.1.
Article ID : 1019015.1
Article Type : Sun Alerts (SURE)
Last reviewed : 2008-04-27
Audience : PUBLIC
Copyright Notice: Copyright © 2010, Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates.

Security Vulnerability in inetd(1M) Daemon When Debug Logging is Enabled



Category
Security

Release Phase
Resolved

Bug Id
6657786

Product
Solaris 10 Operating System

Date of Resolved Release
02-Apr-2008

Security Vulnerability in inetd(1M) Daemon When Debug Logging is Enabled

1. Impact

The inetd(1M) daemon will log debug messages to the log file /var/tmp/inetd.log if this file exists. A local unprivileged user may be able to create a link from this log file to another file on the system, allowing the user to modify that file. This could result in a Denial of Service (DoS).

2. Contributing Factors

This issue can occur in the following releases:

SPARC Platform
  • Solaris 10 without patch 127718-05
x86 Platform
  • Solaris 10 without patch 127719-05
Note: Solaris 8 and 9 are not impacted by this issue

To determine if inetd(1M) is logging messages to a file, the following command can be run:
$ ls /var/tmp/inetd.log
The presence of the inetd.log file indicates inetd(1M) is logging messages.

3. Symptoms

There are no predictable symptoms that would indicate the described issue has been exploited.

4. Workaround

To prevent this issue from being exploited to modify any file on the system, the root user (uid 0) can create the debug log file "/var/tmp/inetd.log". If a root owned /var/tmp/inetd.log file exists, a local unprivileged user will not be able to create a link from the inetd debug log to another file. For example:
# /usr/bin/rm /var/tmp/inetd.log
# /usr/bin/touch /var/tmp/inetd.log
# /usr/bin/ls -l /var/tmp/inetd.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Feb 13 14:42 /var/tmp/inetd.log

5. Resolution

This issue is addressed in the following releases:

SPARC Platform
  • Solaris 10 with patch 127718-05 or later
x86 Platform
  • Solaris 10 with patch 127719-05 or later
For more information on Security Sun Alerts, see 1009886.1.

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Modification History
28-Apr-2008: Updated Resolution section to add link for Security Technical Instruction doc


References

127718-05
127719-05





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