From agent99@boytoy.csd.sgi.com Thu Aug 6 17:19:54 1998 From: SGI Security Coordinator To: agent99@sgi.com Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 15:18:41 -0700 (PDT) Subject: University of Washington imapd daemon Vulnerability -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- ______________________________________________________________________________ Silicon Graphics Inc. Security Advisory Title: University of Washington imapd daemon Vulnerability Title: CERT CA-98.09 Number: 19980802-01-I Date: August 6, 1998 ______________________________________________________________________________ Silicon Graphics provides this information freely to the SGI user community for its consideration, interpretation, implementation and use. Silicon Graphics recommends that this information be acted upon as soon as possible. Silicon Graphics provides the information in this Security Advisory on an "AS-IS" basis only, and disclaims all warranties with respect thereto, express, implied or otherwise, including, without limitation, any warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall Silicon Graphics be liable for any loss of profits, loss of business, loss of data or for any indirect, special, exemplary, incidental or consequential damages of any kind arising from your use of, failure to use or improper use of any of the instructions or information in this Security Advisory. ______________________________________________________________________________ As a followup to the CERT(sm) Advisory CA-98.09 "Buffer Overflow in Some Implementations of IMAP Servers", Silicon Graphics has investigated and provides the following information. - ----------------------- - --- Issue Specifics --- - ----------------------- The IMAP and POP provides users with an alternative means to process and retrieve their email. CERT has reported that a buffer overflow vulnerability has been discovered in certain versions of IMAP servers based on University of Washington imapd daemon which can allow remote users to obtain root access. Silicon Graphics Inc. has investigated the issue and recommends the following steps for neutralizing the exposure. It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that these measures be implemented on ALL vulnerable SGI systems. - -------------- - --- Impact --- - -------------- Silicon Graphics distributes a freeware University of Washington imapd daemon called fw_imap which is available from the web via http://freeware.sgi.com/ The University of Washington imapd daemon 4.1.BETA v10.234 and prior versions are vulnerable. This vulnerability was reported in CERT(sm) Advisory CA-98.09. This vulnerability has been publically discussed in Usenet newsgroups and mailing lists. - -------------------------- - --- Temporary Solution --- - -------------------------- Although new releases of University of Washington imapd daemon may be available to fix this issue, it is realized that there may be situations where installing the new release immediately may not be possible. To determine if a system is vulnerable to this problem and to remove the programs that are believed to be vulnerable, use the following steps. 1) Check to see if the vulnerable subsystem is installed. 4.1-BETA and prior of fw_imap are vulnerable. % versions -b fw_imap Name Date Description I fw_imap 07/31/98 imap-4.1.BETA U. of Washington POP2/POP3/IMAP4 daemons 2) Become the root user on the system. % /bin/su - Password: # 3) Remove the vulnerable subsystem. # versions remove fw_imap 4) Return to previous level. # exit % When possible, install an updated version of University of Washington imapd daemon. - ---------------- - --- Solution --- - ---------------- No Silicon Graphics patches are available for freeware software. As freeware software, all reasonable efforts will be made to address the issue in future releases of the Silicon Graphics Freeware distribution. Updates to IRIX freeware software will be hosted at http://freeware.sgi.com/ An update to imapd daemon can be found at University of Washington ftp server: ftp://ftp.cac.washington.edu/mail/imap.tar.Z - ------------------------ - --- Acknowledgments --- - ------------------------ Silicon Graphics wishes to thank the CERT Coordination Center for their assistance in this matter. - ----------------------------------------------------------- - --- Silicon Graphics Inc. Security Information/Contacts --- - ----------------------------------------------------------- If there are questions about this document, email can be sent to cse-security-alert@sgi.com. ------oOo------ Silicon Graphics provides security information and patches for use by the entire SGI community. This information is freely available to any person needing the information and is available via anonymous FTP and the Web. 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A support contract is not required for submitting a security report. ______________________________________________________________________________ This information is provided freely to all interested parties and may be redistributed provided that it is not altered in any way, Silicon Graphics is appropriately credited and the document retains and includes its valid PGP signature. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBNcokRLQ4cFApAP75AQGRSQP+ILlHdZjZ9HJAYpWu8Ri65QDkZumiffam spjdf7nd0Qeb+vZTaXq4R3tQq0QOcBS5bhL6mw6S4XqhlskBQErN6quIKl10f7XX 48gKXPHeMgogvjsLsORl4NDOGvI9VGxK+9iAV41ROfpUTKHCNSr1eargYl6wCM25 j3pPik4N07E= =9kFN -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----