Note: This is an archival copy of Security Sun Alert 240546 as previously published on http://sunsolve.sun.com.
Latest version of this security advisory is available from http://support.oracle.com as Sun Alert 1019524.1.
Article ID : 1019524.1
Article Type : Sun Alerts (SURE)
Last reviewed : 2008-08-17
Audience : PUBLIC
Copyright Notice: Copyright © 2010, Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates.

Denial of Service Vulnerability in NFSv4 Client Kernel Module



Category
Security

Release Phase
Resolved

Bug Id
6378538

Product
Solaris 10 Operating System

Date of Resolved Release
18-Aug-2008

Denial of Service Vulnerability in NFSv4 Client Kernel Module:

1. Impact

A security vulnerability in the NFSv4 client kernel module may allow a local unprivileged user who cooperates with a remote privileged user on an NFSv4 server to be able to cause all NFSv4 mounts on client systems which have an NFSv4 mount of  the above NFSv4 server to become unresponsive.  This is a type of Denial of Service (DoS).

2. Contributing Factors

This issue can occur in the following releases:

SPARC Platform
  • Solaris 10 without patch 137111-05
  • OpenSolaris based upon builds snv_01 through snv_36
x86 Platform
  • Solaris 10 without patch 137112-05
  • OpenSolaris based upon builds snv_01 through snv_36
Note 1: Solaris 8 and 9 are not impacted by this issue.

Note 2: To determine what version of  NFS an NFS mount is using the nfsstat(1M) command can be used:
    $ nfsstat -m /mnt/point
Flags: vers=4,proto=tcp,sec=sys,hard,intr,link,symlink,acl,rsize=1048576,wsize=1048576,retrans=10,timeo=600
Attr cache: acregmin=3,acregmax=60,acdirmin=30,acdirmax=60
The number after the "vers=" string indicates the version of NFS in use for the mounted file system.

Note 3:  This issue only affects NFS environments where NFSv4 is in use as well as automountd(1M).  Solaris 10 and later NFS clients and servers default to NFSv4.  This is configurable by editing the /etc/default/nfs file (see nfs(4)).

To determine if the autofs mount/unmount daemon is enabled,  the following command can be run:
    $ svcs svc:/system/filesystem/autofs:default
STATE          STIME    FMRI
online         Aug_07   svc:/system/filesystem/autofs:default
Note 4:  OpenSolaris distributions may include additional bug fixes above and beyond the build from which it was derived. 

To determine the base build of  OpenSolaris, the following command can be used:
    $ uname -v
snv_86
3. Symptoms

If the described issue is exploited, all NFSv4 mounts on systems which have an NFSv4 mount on an NFSv4 server which has been compromised will become unresponsive. Depending on the file system configuration, this may lead to a system hang.

4. Workaround

To work around the described issue, NFS client systems can be configured not to use NFSv4 by setting "NFS_CLIENT_VERSMAX=3" in "/etc/default/nfs". Please refer to nfs(4) documentation.

5. Resolution

This issue is resolved in the following releases:

SPARC Platform
  • Solaris 10 with patch 137111-05 or later
  • OpenSolaris based upon builds snv_37 or later
x86 Platform
  • Solaris 10 with patch 137112-05 or later
  • OpenSolaris based upon builds snv_37 or later

For more information on Security Sun Alerts, see 1009886.1.


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References

137111-05
137112-05





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