************************************************************************** Security Bulletin 9721 DISA Defense Communications System August 14, 1997 Published by: DISN Security Coordination Center (SCC@NIC.MIL) 1-(800) 365-3642 DEFENSE INFORMATION SYSTEM NETWORK SECURITY BULLETIN The DISN SECURITY BULLETIN is distributed by the DISN SCC (Security Coordination Center) under DISA contract as a means of communicating information on network and host security exposures, fixes, and concerns to security and management personnel at DISN facilities. Back issues may be obtained via FTP from NIC.MIL [207.132.116.5] using login= "anonymous" and password="guest". The bulletin pathname is scc/sec-yynn (where "yy" is the year the bulletin is issued and "nn" is a bulletin number, e.g. scc/sec-9705.txt). These are also available at our WWW site, http://nic.mil. ************************************************************************** + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + ! ! ! The following important advisory was issued by the Computer ! ! Emergency Response Team (CERT) and is being relayed unedited ! ! via the Defense Information Systems Agency's Security ! ! Coordination Center distribution system as a means of ! ! providing DISN subscribers with useful security information. ! ! ! + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + ============================================================================= -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- ============================================================================= CERT* Advisory CA-97.22 Original issue date: August 13, 1997 Last revised: -- Topic: BIND - the Berkeley Internet Name Daemon - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- *** This advisory supersedes CA-96.02. *** Several vulnerabilities in the Berkeley Internet Name Daemon (BIND) have been fixed in the current version of BIND. One of those vulnerabilities is now being exploited, a vulnerability that results in cache poisoning (malicious or misleading data from a remote name server is saved [cached] by another name server). All versions of BIND before release 8.1.1 are vulnerable. The CERT/CC team recommends installing a patch from your vendor (See Appendix A). Until you can install a vendor patch, we recommend the workaround described in Section III.B. We also urge you to take the additional precautions described in Section III.C. We will update this advisory as we receive additional information. Please check our advisory files regularly for updates that relate to your site. - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Description The Berkeley Internet Name Daemon (BIND) is an implementation of the Domain Name Service (DNS) written primarily for UNIX Systems. BIND consists of three parts: * The client part. This part contains subroutine libraries used by programs that require DNS services. Example clients of these libraries are telnet, the X Windows System, and ssh (the secure shell). The client part consists of subroutine libraries, header files, and manual pages. * The server part. This part contains the name server daemon (named) and its support program (named-xfer). These programs provide one source of the data used for mapping between host names and IP addresses. When appropriately configured, these name server daemons can interoperate across a network (the Internet for example) to provide the mapping services for that network. The server part consists of the daemon, its support programs and scripts, and manual pages. * The tools part. This part contains various tools for interrogating name servers in a network. They use the client part to extract information from those servers. The tools part consists of these interrogation tools and manual pages. As BIND has matured, several vulnerabilities in the client, server, and tools parts have been fixed. Among these is server cache poisoning. Cache poisoning occurs when malicious or misleading data received from a remote name server is saved (cached) by another name server. This "bad" data is then made available to programs that request the cached data through the client interface. Analysis of recent incidents reported to the CERT Coordination Center has shown that the cache poisoning technique is being used to adversely affect the mapping between host names and IP addresses. Once this mapping has been changed, any information sent between hosts on a network may be subjected to inspection, capture, or corruption. Although the new BIND distributions do address important security problems, not all known problems are fixed. In particular, several problems can be fixed only with the use of cryptographic authentication techniques. Implementing and deploying this solution is non-trivial; work on this task is currently underway within the Internet community. II. Impact The mapping between host names and IP addresses may be changed. As a result, attackers can inspect, capture, or corrupt the information exchanged between hosts on a network. III. Solution A. Obtain and install a patch for this problem. Information from vendors can be found in Appendix A of this advisory; we will update the appendix as we receive more information. B. Until you are able to install the appropriate patch, we recommend the following workaround. The "best practice" for operating the publicly available BIND system can be either: * a heterogeneous solution that involves first installing BIND release 4.9.6 and then release 8.1.1, or * a homogeneous solution that involves installing only BIND release 8.1.1. In the paragraphs below, we describe how to determine which solution you should use. 1. Shared Object Client Subroutine Library If your system and its programs rely on the shared object client subroutine library that comes with some releases of BIND, probably named libresolv.so, then you need the shared object subroutine library and other client software from release 4.9.6. (As of this writing, BIND version 8 does not yet support the client part as a shared object library.) This client software is available at ftp://ftp.isc.org/isc/bind/src/4.9.6/bind-4.9.6-REL.tar.gz MD5 (bind-4.9.6-REL.tar.gz) = 76dd66e920ad0638c8a37545a6531594 Follow the instructions in the file named INSTALL in the top-level directory. After installing this client part, install the server and tool parts from release 8.1.1. This software is available at ftp://ftp.isc.org/isc/bind/src/8.1.1/bind-src.tar.gz MD5 (bind-src.tar.gz) = 7487b8d647edba2053edc1cda0c6afd0 Follow the instructions in the src/INSTALL file. Note that this version will install the client libraries and header files in a non-standard place, /usr/local/lib and /usr/local/include. The src/INSTALL file describes what is being installed and where. When you install release 4.9.6 first, its client, server, and tools parts will be installed in the production locations. When you then install release 8.1.1, the server and tools parts will be overwritten by that release's versions, but the 4.9.6 client part will not. 2. No Shared Object Client Subroutine Library If you do not need the shared object client subroutine library, then you need only upgrade to release 8.1.1. This software is available at ftp://ftp.isc.org/isc/bind/src/8.1.1/bind-src.tar.gz MD5 (bind-src.tar.gz) = 7487b8d647edba2053edc1cda0c6afd0 Follow the instructions in src/INSTALL. Note that the client subroutine library and header files are installed in /usr/local/lib and /usr/local/include respectively. To use these when building other systems, you will need to refer to their installed locations. Note: ftp://ftp.isc.org/isc/bind/src/ is mirrored in Germany at ftp://ftp.cert.dfn.de/pub/tools/net/bind/src/ As new versions of BIND are released in the future, you will be able to find them at these sites, as well as other mirrors. You can also check ftp://info.cert.org/pub/latest_sw_versions/ for version information. C. Take additional precautions. As good security practice in general, filter at a router all name-based authentication services so that you do not rely on DNS information for authentication. This includes the services rlogin, rsh (rcp), xhost, NFS, and any other locally installed services that provide trust based on domain name information. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Appendix A - Vendor Information Below is a list of the vendors who have provided information for this advisory. We will update this appendix as we receive additional information. If you do not see your vendor's name, the CERT/CC did not hear from that vendor. Please contact the vendor directly. Cray Research - A Silicon Graphics Company =========================================== Cray Research has determined that the version of BIND shipped with all current releases of Unicos and Unicos/mk are susceptible to the problem described in this advisory. We are currently working on upgrading our version of BIND to the 4.9.6 release. Digital Equipment Corporation ============================= xref CASE ID: SSRT0494U At the time of writing this document, patches(binary kits) are in progress and final patch testing is expected to begin soon. Digital will provide notice of the completion/availability of the patches through AES services (DIA, DSNlink FLASH) and be available from your normal Digital Support channel. DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION AUG/97 ----------------------------- ------ Hewlett-Packard Company ======================= HP is vulnerable. Patches in process. IBM Corporation =============== IBM is currently working on the following APARs which will be available soon: AIX 4.1: IX70236 AIX 4.2: IX70237 To Order -------- APARs may be ordered using Electronic Fix Distribution (via FixDist) or from the IBM Support Center. For more information on FixDist, reference URL: http://service.software.ibm.com/aixsupport/ or send e-mail to aixserv@austin.ibm.com with a subject of "FixDist". IBM and AIX are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. NEC Corporation =============== NEC is vulnerable. The systems affected by this problem are as follows: UX/4800 UX/4800(64) EWS-UX/V(Rel4.2MP) EWS-UX/V(Rel4.2) UP-UX/V(Rel4.2MP) Patches are in progress and will be made available from ftp://ftp.meshnet.or.jp/pub/48pub/security. Siemens-Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG ====================================== We are investigating this problem and will provide updated information for this advisory when it becomes available. The Santa Cruz Operation ======================== The following SCO operating systems are vulnerable: - SCO Open Desktop/Open Server 3.0, SCO UNIX 3.2v4 - SCO OpenServer 5.0 - SCO UnixWare 2.1 SCO CMW+ 3.0 is not vulnerable as bind is not supported on CMW+ platforms. SCO has made an interim fix available for anonymous ftp: ftp://ftp.sco.com/SSE/sse008.ltr.Z - cover letter ftp://ftp.sco.com/SSE/sse008.tar.Z - replacement binaries The fix includes binaries for the following SCO operating systems: - SCO Open Desktop/Open Server 3.0, SCO UNIX 3.2v4 - SCO OpenServer 5.0 - SCO UnixWare 2.1 Sun Microsystems, Inc. ====================== We are producing patches. - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The CERT Coordination Center staff thanks Paul Vixie and Wolfgang Ley for their contributions to this advisory. - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you believe that your system has been compromised, contact the CERT Coordination Center or your representative in the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (see http://www.first.org/team-info/). CERT/CC Contact Information - ---------------------------- Email cert@cert.org Phone +1 412-268-7090 (24-hour hotline) CERT personnel answer 8:30-5:00 p.m. EST(GMT-5) / EDT(GMT-4) and are on call for emergencies during other hours. Fax +1 412-268-6989 Postal address CERT Coordination Center Software Engineering Institute Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh PA 15213-3890 USA Using encryption We strongly urge you to encrypt sensitive information sent by email. We can support a shared DES key or PGP. Contact the CERT/CC for more information. Location of CERT PGP key ftp://info.cert.org/pub/CERT_PGP.key Getting security information CERT publications and other security information are available from http://www.cert.org/ ftp://info.cert.org/pub/ CERT advisories and bulletins are also posted on the USENET newsgroup comp.security.announce To be added to our mailing list for advisories and bulletins, send email to cert-advisory-request@cert.org In the subject line, type SUBSCRIBE your-email-address - --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1997 Carnegie Mellon University. Conditions apply; they can be found in http://www.cert.org/legal_stuff.html and ftp://info.cert.org/pub/legal_stuff. If you do not have FTP or web access, send mail to cert@cert.org with "copyright" in the subject line. *CERT is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. - --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This file: ftp://info.cert.org/pub/cert_advisories/CA-97.22.bind http://www.cert.org click on "CERT Advisories" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Revision history -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBM/IEfHVP+x0t4w7BAQEIhgQAxnJF/2CgyiHANLM9bMkVJVsxixBQ2yIX 4pwaG91tu9d00jfYhOAvzIz95STNMM0Cr1mgn57FkElqDC8fOTLdrdzOrKBQVf11 v1oiIjEQaHX3CcP/gzzL0J+YKg7P1olF9QbNkPlDicgVzv+jLeTGcRcU9iv6Ug74 LXjZUF4Sr60= =aml2 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- **************************************************************************** * * * The point of contact for NIPRNET security-related incidents is the * * ASSIST: * * * * E-mail address: ASSIST@ASSIST.MIL * * * * Telephone: 1-(800)-357-4231 (24 hours/day) * * * * You may also contact the Security Coordination Center (SCC) at the * * NIC: * * * * E-mail address: SCC@NIC.MIL * * * * Telephone: 1-(800)-365-3642 * * * * NIC Help Desk personnel are available from 7:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. EST, * * Monday through Friday except on federal holidays. * * * **************************************************************************** PLEASE NOTE: Some users outside of the DOD computing communities may receive DISN Security Bulletins. If you are not part of the DOD community, please contact your agency's incident response team to report incidents. Your agency's team will coordinate with DOD. The Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) is a world-wide organization. A list of FIRST member organizations and their constituencies can be obtained by sending email to docserver@first.org with an empty subject line and a message body containing the line: send first-contacts. This document was prepared as an service to the DOD community. Neither the United States Government nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. 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