CERT Advisory - AIX Performance Tools Vulnerabilities

Thu Feb 24 21:52:36 UTC 1994

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CA-94:03                        CERT Advisory
                              February 24, 1994
                  IBM AIX Performance Tools Vulnerabilities
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The CERT Coordination Center has received information concerning
vulnerabilities in the "bosext1.extcmds.obj" Licensed Program Product
(performance tools).  These problems exist on IBM AIX 3.2.4 systems that
have Program Temporary Fixes (PTFs) U420020 or U422510 installed and
on all AIX 3.2.5 systems.

CERT recommends that affected sites apply the workaround provided in
section III below.

I.      Description

        Vulnerabilities exist in the bosext1.extcmds.obj performance tools
        in AIX 3.2.5 and in those AIX 3.2.4 systems with Program Temporary
        Fixes (PTFs) U420020 or U422510 installed.  These problems do not
        exist in earlier versions of AIX.

II.     Impact

        Local users can gain unauthorized root access to the system.

III.    Workaround

        A. The recommended workaround is to change the permissions of
           all the programs in the /usr/lpp/bosperf directory structure
           so that the setuid bit is removed and the programs can be
           executed only by 'root'.  This can be accomplished as follows:

                % su root
                # chmod -R u-s,og= /usr/lpp/bosperf/*

           The programs affected by this workaround include:
                filemon, fileplace, genkex, genkld, genld, lvedit,
                netpmon, rmap, rmss, stripnm, svmon, tprof 

           As a result of this workaround, these programs will no longer
           be executable by users other than 'root'.

        B. Patches for these problems can be ordered as Authorized
           Program Analysis Report (APAR) IX42332.

           To order an APAR from IBM call 1-800-237-5511 and ask for
           shipment as soon as it is available.  APARs may be obtained
           outside the U.S. by contacting your local IBM representative.

           Any further information that we receive on APAR IX42332 will
           be available by anonymous FTP in the file
           pub/cert_advisories/CA-94:03.README on info.cert.org.

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The CERT Coordination Center wishes to thank Jill K. Bowyer of USAF/DISA
for reporting this problem and IBM for their prompt response to this problem.
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If you believe that your system has been compromised, contact the CERT
Coordination Center or your representative in Forum of Incident
Response and Security Teams (FIRST).

Internet E-mail: cert at cert.org
Telephone: 412-268-7090 (24-hour hotline)
           CERT personnel answer 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. EST(GMT-5)/EDT(GMT-4),
           and are on call for emergencies during other hours.

CERT Coordination Center
Software Engineering Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890

Past advisories, information about FIRST representatives, and other
information related to computer security are available for anonymous FTP
on info.cert.org.