Bulletin Number: #00192
Date: December 29, 1999
Cross-Ref: CERT CA-99-11
Title: CDE and OpenWindows
________________________________________________________________________________
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1. Bulletin Topics
Sun announces the release of patches for Solaris(tm) 7, 2.6, 2.5.1, 2.5,
2.4, 2.3 (SunOS(tm) 5.7, 5.6, 5.5.1, 5.5, 5.4, 5.3), and SunOS 4.1.4,
and 4.1.3_U1 which relate to various vulnerabilities in CDE and
OpenWindows.
Sun recommends that you install the patches listed in section 4
immediately on systems running SunOS 5.7, 5.6, 5.5.1, 5.5, 5.4, 5.3,
4.1.4, and 4.1.3_U1.
The ToolTalk messaging utility, ttsession, allows independent
applications to communicate without having direct knowledge of
each other. The ttsession daemon is started automatically by
any program that needs to send or receive a ToolTalk message. It uses
AUTH_UNIX authentication by default. A local or remote attacker may
manipulate certain environment variables (which are used by ttsession
to determine how client messages are handled) to execute arbitrary
commands with the privileges of the running ttsession.
3.2 CDE dtspcd relies on file-system based authentication
The CDE desktop subprocess control program (dtspcd) is a network
daemon that accepts requests from clients to execute commands and
launch applications remotely. By manipulating predictable files used
for authentication, a local attacker may exploit this vulnerability
to execute arbitrary commands and gain root access.
3.3 CDE dtaction buffer overflow
The dtaction utility allows applications or shell scripts, which are
otherwise not connected into the CDE user environment, to request
CDE actions be performed. A buffer overflow vulnerability has been
discovered which may be exploited by a local attacker to execute
arbitrary instructions and gain root access.
3.4 CDE ToolTalk shared library buffer overflow in TT_SESSION
A buffer overflow vulnerability has been discovered in the ToolTalk
shared library which may be exploited by a local attacker to execute
arbitrary instructions and gain root access.
4. List of Patches
Patches for vulnerability described in section 3.1
SunOS version Patch ID
_____________ _________
5.7 107893-04
5.7_x86 107894-04
5.6 105802-11
5.6_x86 105803-13
5.5.1 104489-10
5.5.1_x86 105496-08
5.5 104428-08
5.5_x86 105495-06
5.4 102734-05
108636-01 (see Note 1)
5.4_x86 108641-01
108637-01 (see Note 1)
5.3 Patch will be available in 2 weeks
4.1.4, 4.1.3_U1 Patch will be available in 2 weeks
Note 1: Install patch if CDE 1.0.2 or 1.0.1 is installed.
Patches for vulnerability described in section 3.2
CDE version SunOS version Patch ID
___________ _____________ _________
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