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______________________________________________________________________________

                        SUSE Security Announcement

        Package:                rsync
        Announcement-ID:        SUSE-SA:2004:026
        Date:                   Monday, Aug 16th 2004 16:00 MEST
        Affected products:      8.1, 8.2, 9.0, 9.1
                                SUSE Linux Database Server,
                                SUSE eMail Server III, 3.1
                                SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 8, 9
                                SUSE Linux Firewall on CD/Admin host
                                SUSE Linux Connectivity Server
                                SUSE Linux Office Server
        Vulnerability Type:     remote system compromise
        Severity (1-10):        2
        SUSE default package:   no
        Cross References:       https://rsync.samba.org/

    Content of this advisory:
        1) security vulnerability resolved:
             - insufficient pathname sanitizing
           problem description
        2) solution/workaround
        3) special instructions and notes
        4) package location and checksums
        5) pending vulnerabilities, solutions, workarounds:
            - KDE
            - mozilla/firefox
            - xine-lib
            - opera
            - acroread
        6) standard appendix (further information)

______________________________________________________________________________

1) problem description, brief discussion

    The rsync-team released an advisory about a security problem in rsync.
    If rsync is running in daemon-mode and without a chroot environment it
    is possible for a remote attacker to trick rsyncd into creating an
    absolute pathname while sanitizing it.
    As a result it is possible to read/write from/to files outside the
    rsync directory.

    SUSE LINUX ships the rsync daemon with a chroot environment enabled
    by default, therefore the default setup is not vulnerable.


2) solution/workaround

    As a temporary workaround we suggest to keep the chroot-option of
    rsyncd enabled or to avoid the daemon-mode and use SSH as transport
    channel if possible.


3) special instructions and notes

    After applying the update, all instances of the rsyncd should be
    closed and the rsync daemon should be restarted.
    Please execute the following command as root: 'rcrsyncd restart'


4) package location and checksums

    Please download the update package for your distribution and verify its
    integrity by the methods listed in section 3) of this announcement.
    Then, install the package using the command "rpm -Fhv file.rpm" to apply
    the update.
    Our maintenance customers are being notified individually. The packages
    are being offered to install from the maintenance web.


    x86 Platform:

    SUSE Linux 9.1:
          afa5b8894e2d1acff4b040e8ba515ae4
    patch rpm(s):
          c0bf6dcf573a9a4197da0977ea638f2a
    source rpm(s):
          f31f409225560bd1ac1d5fb5f0d8c43e

    SUSE Linux 9.0:
          5d7be9a510a4a5fafccbc29c63b0dec8
    patch rpm(s):
          70809462c5d88bc8241b544100689efe
    source rpm(s):
          f92d91816456f0e626ea1ee41ebe8b65

    SUSE Linux 8.2:
          4f901dee110596bf2a48a24d8d094b71
    patch rpm(s):
          c7260721ec51a569309cd4629a3a5ad1
    source rpm(s):
          fcd540a8e89c864b56cbad7d60696450

    SUSE Linux 8.1:
          193752687ef1d98a5ebec4ff471842b1
    patch rpm(s):
          9b6225e3bd2ff624f5f61bd6b033e8b8
    source rpm(s):
          0f649de8547008aa5e2a977ff209fca3




    x86-64 Platform:

    SUSE Linux 9.1:
          745a09fdbccc7ccfea9705f54a6825a3
    patch rpm(s):
          725b10d1703f6ee41185564d08b151d3
    source rpm(s):
          6145ed8346ebfd63863734b30fc3a8e9

    SUSE Linux 9.0:
          20d3b3f8b3fde71ae1c3f0eed22feee0
    patch rpm(s):
          9bc24b61361c74f37e4fd81e8e7faa98
    source rpm(s):
          599e9f0a19fd2890499c863cd0394598


______________________________________________________________________________

5)  Pending vulnerabilities in SUSE Distributions and Workarounds:

    - KDE
    The KDE libs package contained two occurrences of insecure handling
    of temporary files in the mcoputils code (Thanks to Andrew Tuitt for
    reporting this to us) and in the dcopserver code.
    These two bugs can be exploited locally to remove and/or overwrite files
    with the privileges of the user running a vulnerable KDE application.
    A bug in the kdebase3 package allows the content of unrelated browser
    windows to be modified.
    This issue may be used to trick users into entering sensitive
    informations on a malicious web-site.
    New packages are available on our FTP servers.

    - mozilla/firefox
    We are currently testing new mozilla/firefox packages that include
    several fixes for security-related bugs.
    New packages are available on our FTP servers (for some products
    we have to delay the delivery of the update package).

    - xine-lib
    This update of xine fix' a buffer overflow in the vcd input source
    identifier. This buffer overflow is independent of the media format.
    The bug can be used to execute arbitrary commands.
    New packages are available on our FTP servers.

    - opera
    The web-browser opera is affected by several security bugs. Due to
    the nature of this package we are not able to provide security updates
    in a timely manner and have to wait for binary packages to be published
    by "Opera Software".

    - acroread
    iDEFENSE reported a buffer overflow and insecure handling of shell
    meta-chars in acroread code.
    We depend on the release of a new binary package by Adobe.
    An update will be available as soon as possible.

______________________________________________________________________________

6)  standard appendix: authenticity verification, additional information

  - Package authenticity verification:

    SUSE update packages are available on many mirror ftp servers all over
    the world. While this service is being considered valuable and important
    to the free and open source software community, many users wish to be
    sure about the origin of the package and its content before installing
    the package. There are two verification methods that can be used
    independently from each other to prove the authenticity of a downloaded
    file or rpm package:
    1) md5sums as provided in the (cryptographically signed) announcement.
    2) using the internal gpg signatures of the rpm package.

    1) execute the command
        md5sum 
       after you downloaded the file from a SUSE ftp server or its mirrors.
       Then, compare the resulting md5sum with the one that is listed in the
       announcement. Since the announcement containing the checksums is
       cryptographically signed (usually using the key security@suse.de),
       the checksums show proof of the authenticity of the package.
       We disrecommend to subscribe to security lists which cause the
       email message containing the announcement to be modified so that
       the signature does not match after transport through the mailing
       list software.
       Downsides: You must be able to verify the authenticity of the
       announcement in the first place. If RPM packages are being rebuilt
       and a new version of a package is published on the ftp server, all
       md5 sums for the files are useless.

    2) rpm package signatures provide an easy way to verify the authenticity
       of an rpm package. Use the command
        rpm -v --checksig 
       to verify the signature of the package, where  is the
       filename of the rpm package that you have downloaded. Of course,
       package authenticity verification can only target an un-installed rpm
       package file.
       Prerequisites:
        a) gpg is installed
        b) The package is signed using a certain key. The public part of this
           key must be installed by the gpg program in the directory
           ~/.gnupg/ under the user's home directory who performs the
           signature verification (usually root). You can import the key
           that is used by SUSE in rpm packages for SUSE Linux by saving
           this announcement to a file ("announcement.txt") and
           running the command (do "su -" to be root):
            gpg --batch; gpg < announcement.txt | gpg --import
           SUSE Linux distributions version 7.1 and thereafter install the
           key "build@suse.de" upon installation or upgrade, provided that
           the package gpg is installed. The file containing the public key
           is placed at the top-level directory of the first CD (pubring.gpg)
           and at  .


  - SUSE runs two security mailing lists to which any interested party may
    subscribe:

    suse-security@suse.com
        -   general/linux/SUSE security discussion.
            All SUSE security announcements are sent to this list.
            To subscribe, send an email to
                .

    suse-security-announce@suse.com
        -   SUSE's announce-only mailing list.
            Only SUSE's security announcements are sent to this list.
            To subscribe, send an email to
                .

    For general information or the frequently asked questions (faq)
    send mail to:
         or
         respectively.

    ====================================================================    SUSE's security contact is  or .
    The  public key is listed below.
    ====================================================================