Category
Security
Release Phase
Resolved
Bug Id
6740382
ProductSolaris 10 Operating System
OpenSolaris
Date of Resolved Release18-Dec-2008
A Security Vulnerability in the Solaris Name Service Cache Daemon (nscd(1M)) May Allow Unauthorized Access to Data and Escalation of Privileges
1. Impact
A security vulnerability in the Solaris name service cache daemon
(nscd(1M)) may, under certain conditions, allow local unprivileged
users to gain access to unauthorized information and gain elevated
privileges.
Sun acknowledges with thanks, Mike Gerdts for bringing this issue to our attention.
2. Contributing Factors
This issue can occur in the following releases:
SPARC Platform:
- Solaris 10 with patch 120011-14 and without patch 138263-03
- OpenSolaris based upon builds snv_50 through snv_104
x86 Platform:
- Solaris 10 with patch 120012-14 and without patch 138264-03
- OpenSolaris based upon builds snv_50 through snv_104
Notes:
1. Solaris 8, Solaris 9 and Solaris 10 releases prior to Solaris 10
Update 4 (8/07) are not impacted by this issue.
2. OpenSolaris distributions may include additional bug fixes above and
beyond the build from which it was derived. The base build can be
derived as follows:
$ uname -a
SunOS phys-node-1 5.11 snv_86 i86pc i386 i86pc
3. This issue occurs only when nscd(1M) is running and the 'compat'
mode is configured for the 'passwd' entry in nsswitch.conf(4).
The following command may be run to check if the nscd(1M) process is
running:
$ svcs svc:/system/name-service-cache
STATE STIME FMRI
online Aug_05 svc:/system/name-service-cache:default
"online" indicates nscd is running.
STATE STIME FMRI
disabled 12:34:55 svc:/system/name-service-cache:default
"disabled" indicates nscd is not running.
The following command may be run to check if the 'compat' mode has been
configured for the passwd(1) entry in nsswitch.conf(4):
$ grep passwd: /etc/nsswitch.conf
passwd: compat
if the 'compat' mode has been configured for the passwd(1) entry.
3. Symptoms
There are no predictable symptoms to indicate this issue has been
exploited to gain access to unauthorized data or gain elevated
privileges.
4. Workaround
It is possible to work around the described issue with one of the
following options:
A) Disable the nscd(1M) daemon. This may be done by executing the
following command as the 'root' user:
# svcadm disable svc:/system/name-service-cache
Disabling nscd(1M) may slow responses to name services requests on the
affected host.
B) Remove the 'compat' entry for 'passwd' in the file /etc/nsswitch.conf
C) If the entry for 'passwd_compat' in /etc/nsswitch.conf is either
'nis' or 'ldap', modify the entry for 'passwd' in the same file as
follows:
passwd: nisplus compat
If the entry for 'passwd_compat' in /etc/nsswitch.conf is 'nisplus',
modify the entry for 'passwd' in the same file as follows:
passwd: yyyyyy compat
where 'yyyyyy' is indeed the string 'yyyyyy' or any string that would
not match a existing source.
5. Resolution
This issue is addressed in the following releases:
SPARC Platform:
- Solaris 10 with patch 138263-03 or later
- OpenSolaris based upon build snv_105 or later
x86 Platform:
- Solaris 10 with patch 138264-03 or later
- OpenSolaris based upon build snv_105 or later
For more information
on Security Sun Alerts, see 1009886.1.
This Sun Alert
notification is being provided to you on
an "AS IS"
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Clara, CA 95054 U.S.A. All rights reserved.
Modification History
05-Jan-2009: Updated Contributing Factors section for patch clarification
References
138263-03
138264-03
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