__________________________________________________________ The U.S. Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability ___ __ __ _ ___ / | /_\ / \___ __|__ / \ \___ __________________________________________________________ INFORMATION BULLETIN Linux kernel Vulnerabilities [Debian Security Advisory DSA 495-1] April 26, 2004 20:00 GMT Number O-127 [REVISED 05 Aug 2004] [REVISED 19 Aug 2004] [REVISED 30 Aug 2004] [REVISED 21 Dec 2004] ______________________________________________________________________________ PROBLEM: Red Hat linux kernels and Debian linux-kernel 2.4.16 contain security vulnerabilities. PLATFORM: kernel-source-2.4.16 kernel-patch-2.4.16-arm kernel-image-2.4.16-lart kernel-image-2.4.16-netwinder kernel-image-2.4.16-riscpc Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS, ES, and WS (v.3) Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS, ES, and WS (v.2.1) Red Hat Advanced Workstation 2.1 for the Itanium Processor SGI ProPack 3 DAMAGE: Vulnerabilities are listed as follows: - The kernel module loader allows local users to gain root privileges by using ptrace to attach to a child process that is spawned by the kernel - The R128 drive in the Linux kernel that could potentially lead an attacker to gain unauthorized privileges. - A stack-based buffer overflow in the ncp_lookup function for ncpfs in the Linux kernel could lead an attacker to gain unauthorized privileges. - A buffer overflow vulnerability in the ISO9660 filesystem component of Linux kernel could be abused by an attacker to gain unauthorised root access. - An information leak may exist in the ext3 code of Linux that would allow an authorized user to read sensitive data. - Soundblaster driver may cause denial of service. SOLUTION: Apply updated packages. ______________________________________________________________________________ VULNERABILITY The risk is MEDIUM. Two of the vulnerabilities may allow a ASSESSMENT: local user to gain root access. ______________________________________________________________________________ LINKS: CIAC BULLETIN: http://www.ciac.org/ciac/bulletins/o-127.shtml ORIGINAL BULLETIN: http://www.debian.org/security/2004/dsa-495 ADDITIONAL LINKS: Red Hat RHSA-2004:413-07 (CAN-2004-0178) https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2004-413.html Red Hat RHSA-2004:437-02 https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2004-437.html Red Hat RHSA-2004:504-13 https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2004-504.html Red Hat RHSA-2004:505-14 https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2004-505.html SGI 20040804-01-U http://www.sgi.com/support/security/advisories.html CVE/CAN: http://www.cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name= CAN-2003-0127 CAN-2004-0003 CAN-2004-0010 CAN-2004-0109 CAN-2004-0177 CAN-2004-0178 ______________________________________________________________________________ REVISION HISTORY: 08/05/2004 - added link because Red Hat has released updated kernel packages for their Enterprise Linux AS, ES, and WS (v.3) on advisory RHSA-2004:413-07 that also address the issues on this bulletin. 08/19/2004 - added a link to Red Hat RHSA-2004:437-02 for Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS, ES, WS (v.2.1). 08/30/2004 - added link to SGI Security Advisory 20040804-01-U 12/21/2004 - added link information to Red Hat Advisories: RHSA-2004:504-13 / Itanium packages RHSA-2004:505-14 / kernel packages [***** Start Debian Security Advisory DSA 495-1 *****] Debian Security Advisory DSA-495-1 linux-kernel-2.4.16-arm -- several vulnerabilities Date Reported: 26 Apr 2004 Affected Packages: kernel-source-2.4.16 kernel-patch-2.4.16-arm kernel-image-2.4.16-lart kernel-image-2.4.16-netwinder kernel-image-2.4.16-riscpc Vulnerable: Yes Security database references: In the Bugtraq database (at SecurityFocus): BugTraq ID 10152. In Mitre's CVE dictionary: CAN-2003-0127, CAN-2004-0003, CAN-2004-0010, CAN-2004-0109, CAN-2004-0177, CAN-2004-0178. More information: Several serious problems have been discovered in the Linux kernel. This update takes care of Linux 2.4.16 for the ARM architecture. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project identifies the following problems that will be fixed with this update: CAN-2003-0127 The kernel module loader allows local users to gain root privileges by using ptrace to attach to a child process that is spawned by the kernel CAN-2004-0003 A vulnerability has been discovered in the R128 drive in the Linux kernel which could potentially lead an attacker to gain unauthorised privileges. Alan Cox and Thomas Biege developed a correction for this CAN-2004-0010 Arjan van de Ven discovered a stack-based buffer overflow in the ncp_lookup function for ncpfs in the Linux kernel, which could lead an attacker to gain unauthorised privileges. Petr Vandrovec developed a correction for this. CAN-2004-0109 zen-parse discovered a buffer overflow vulnerability in the ISO9660 filesystem component of Linux kernel which could be abused by an attacker to gain unauthorised root access. Sebastian Krahmer and Ernie Petrides developed a correction for this. CAN-2004-0177 Solar Designer discovered an information leak in the ext3 code of Linux. In a worst case a local attacker could obtain sensitive information (such as cryptographic keys in another worst case) which would otherwise never hit disk media. Theodore Ts'o developed a correction for this. CAN-2004-0178 Andreas Kies discovered a denial of service condition in the Sound Blaster driver in Linux. He also developed a correction for this. These problems are also fixed by upstream in Linux 2.4.26 and will be fixed in Linux 2.6.6. The following security matrix explains which kernel versions for which architectures are already fixed and which will be removed instead. Architecture stable (woody) unstable (sid) source 2.4.16-1woody2 2.4.25-3 arm/patch 20040419 20040316 arm/lart 20040419 2.4.25-4 arm/netwinder 20040419 2.4.25-4 arm/riscpc 20040419 2.4.25-4 We recommend that you upgrade your kernel packages immediately, either with a Debian provided kernel or with a self compiled one. Vulnerability matrix for CAN-2004-0109 Fixed in: Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (woody) Source: http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/k/kernel-source-2.4.16/ kernel-source-2.4.16_2.4.16-1woody2.dsc http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/k/kernel-source-2.4.16/ kernel-source-2.4.16_2.4.16-1woody2.diff.gz http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/k/kernel-source-2.4.16/ kernel-source-2.4.16_2.4.16.orig.tar.gz http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/k/kernel-patch-2.4.16-arm/ kernel-patch-2.4.16-arm_20040419.dsc http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/k/kernel-patch-2.4.16-arm/ kernel-patch-2.4.16-arm_20040419.tar.gz http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/k/kernel-image-2.4.16-lart/ kernel-image-2.4.16-lart_20040419.dsc http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/k/kernel-image-2.4.16-lart/ kernel-image-2.4.16-lart_20040419.tar.gz http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/k/kernel-image-2.4.16-netwinder/ kernel-image-2.4.16-netwinder_20040419.dsc http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/k/kernel-image-2.4.16-netwinder/ kernel-image-2.4.16-netwinder_20040419.tar.gz http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/k/kernel-image-2.4.16-riscpc/ kernel-image-2.4.16-riscpc_20040419.dsc http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/k/kernel-image-2.4.16-riscpc/ kernel-image-2.4.16-riscpc_20040419.tar.gz Architecture-independent component: http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/k/kernel-source-2.4.16/ kernel-doc-2.4.16_2.4.16-1woody2_all.deb http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/k/kernel-source-2.4.16/ kernel-source-2.4.16_2.4.16-1woody2_all.deb http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/k/kernel-patch-2.4.16-arm/ kernel-patch-2.4.16-arm_20040419_all.deb ARM: http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/k/kernel-image-2.4.16-lart/ kernel-image-2.4.16-lart_20040419_arm.deb http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/k/kernel-image-2.4.16-netwinder/ kernel-headers-2.4.16_20040419_arm.deb http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/k/kernel-image-2.4.16-netwinder/ kernel-image-2.4.16-netwinder_20040419_arm.deb http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/k/kernel-image-2.4.16-riscpc/ kernel-image-2.4.16-riscpc_20040419_arm.deb MD5 checksums of the listed files are available in the original advisory. [***** End Debian Security Advisory DSA 495-1 *****] _______________________________________________________________________________ CIAC wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Debian for the information contained in this bulletin. _______________________________________________________________________________ CIAC, the Computer Incident Advisory Capability, is the computer security incident response team for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the emergency backup response team for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). CIAC is located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. CIAC is also a founding member of FIRST, the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams, a global organization established to foster cooperation and coordination among computer security teams worldwide. CIAC services are available to DOE, DOE contractors, and the NIH. 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Neither the United States Government nor the University of California nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation or favoring by the United States Government or the University of California. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or the University of California, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. 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