______________________________________________________________________________

                        SuSE Security Announcement

        Package:                file
        Announcement-ID:        SuSE-SA:2003:017
        Date:                   Friday, Mar 21th 2003 10:10 MET
        Affected products:      7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 8.0, 8.1
                                SuSE Linux Database Server
                                SuSE eMail Server 3.1, III
                                SuSE Firewall Adminhost VPN
                                SuSE Linux Admin-CD for Firewall
                                SuSE Firewall on CD 2 - VPN
                                SuSE Firewall on CD 2
                                SuSE Linux Live-CD for Firewall
                                SuSE Linux Connectivity Server
                                SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7
                                SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8
                                SuSE Linux Office Server
        Vulnerability Type:     remote system compromise
        Severity (1-10):        2
        SuSE default package:   yes
        Cross References:       CAN-2003-0102

    Content of this advisory:
        1) security vulnerability resolved: buffer overflow
           problem description, discussion, solution and upgrade information
        2) pending vulnerabilities, solutions, workarounds:
            - mutt
            - kernel
            - ethereal
            - qpopper
            - apcupsd
            - vnc
            - openssl
            - mod_php4
            - pgp4pine
            - nethack
            - netpbm
            - man
        3) standard appendix (further information)

______________________________________________________________________________

1)  problem description, brief discussion, solution, upgrade information

    The file command can be used to determine the type of files.
    iDEFENSE published a security report about a buffer overflow in the
    handling-routines for the ELF file-format.
    In conjunction with other mechanisms like print-filters, cron-jobs,
    eMail-scanners (like AMaViS) and alike this vulnerability can be used
    to gain higher privileges or to compromise the system remotely.

    There is no temporary fix known other then updating the system.

    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.

    Please note, missing packages will be published as soon as possible.


    Intel i386 Platform:

    SuSE-8.1:
      
      06e1fa8c7e00fd848b9ccff104a096f0
    patch rpm(s):
      
      bcb67c0daac5b2542c1126aed315d37c
    source rpm(s):
      
      d10341b38f3e73253ce4c45c06c04ff0

    SuSE-8.0:
      
      622ee2ad1552679bc35254888d2d5373
    patch rpm(s):
      
      eea3818ae69727885e490fc8034e6585
    source rpm(s):
      
      9357e8c51f48feffb5bbff72752ac013

    SuSE-7.3:
      
      f93db1b0c3d3adfe893b0b0fd12f41d8
    source rpm(s):
      
      8206b3d2802237406e2edeb9ade377f1


    SuSE-7.1:
      
      3ac53edd9ee3995e8b5c05d3e94b5fd5
    source rpm(s):
      
      19b16688d3d2867f51554bd3cf4341ab



    Sparc Platform:

    SuSE-7.3:
      
      8a8e966fc47b701669f0fb8d5064436a
    source rpm(s):
      
      2411dd12c8bec3784ba7dff72764b766




    AXP Alpha Platform:

    SuSE-7.1:
      
      4afbdc453be439848e719a3cd1617c49
    source rpm(s):
      
      ca965a4049a126492262281c7f9b7f4f



    PPC Power PC Platform:

    SuSE-7.3:
      
      34fa8b1d8318fd887b840d5715894c97
    source rpm(s):
      
      87eb4efad58d1c375a98e1c9990d7e35

    SuSE-7.1:
      
      82b761b13f32f0bcfe3df906284bf0d9
    source rpm(s):
      
      c7c729f7e8c93dd15ad6af5bfb65e826

______________________________________________________________________________

2)  Pending vulnerabilities in SuSE Distributions and Workarounds:

    - mutt
      A buffer overflow in mutt's IMAP code may result in remote system
      compromise.
      New packages are currently being build and will be available soon.

    - kernel
      A bug in the Linux kernel was found that allows local users to
      become root. The bug can just be exploited if ptrace(2) is allowed,
      LKM and kmod support is enabled.
      We already build new kernels and are currently testing them.
      As a workaround kernel module loading can be disabled after every
      boot by executing the following action as root:
        # echo /just/a/temporary/workaround > /proc/sys/kernel/modprobe
      Please note, that this will disable some services.

    - ethereal
      A format string bug in ethereal's SOCKS handling code and a buffer
      overflow in the NTLMSSP was found in ethereal. Both bugs may lead
      to remote system compromise.
      New packages are currently being build and will be available soon.

    - qpopper
      In version 4.0.x of qpopper a buffer overflow *after* user authen-      tication can be exploited to gain a shell on a POP-server machine.
      New packages are currently being build and will be available soon.

    - apcupsd
      The control and management daemon for APC UPS systems is vulnerable
      to remote code execution due to buffer overflow and format string bugs.
      A dedicated advisory for this issue will be released as soon as all
      packages are being build.

    - vnc
      VNC (Virtual Network Computing) uses a weak cookie generation process
      which can be exploited by an attacker to bypass authentication.
      New packages are currently being tested and will be available on our
      FTP servers soon.

    - openssl
      A paper regarding remote timing attacks against OpenSSL has been
      published by researchers of the Stanford University. It is possible
      to extract the private RSA key used by services using OpenSSL by
      observing their timing behavior.
      Additionally czech researchers found another bug in OpenSSL which
      is an extension of the "Bleichenbacher Attack".
      Fixed packages will be available on our FTP servers soon.

    - mod_php4 4.3.0
      A serious security vulnerability was found in mod_php 4.3.0 which
      allows a remote attacker to read files or even execute PHP-code.
      This was possible due to direct access to the CGI module.
      SuSE does not ship this vulnerable version.

    - pgp4pine
      A buffer overflow in pine's filter add-on pgp4pine can be abused
      to execute arbitrary commands remotely. The pgp4pine version
      SuSE ships is not vulnerable to this bug.

    - nethack
      A buffer overflow in nethack can be exploited local users to gain
      higher privileges if the nethack binary is installed setuid/setgid.
      This bug is fixed for upcoming SuSE Linux versions. As a temporary
      workaround you should disable all s-bits on the nethack binary
      (/etc/permissions.local).

    - netpbm
      The netpbm package contains various integer overflows which can
      lead to arbitrary code execution. New packages are published on our
      FTP servers.

    - man
      A vulnerability in man was published that allows local privilege
      escalation. SuSE Linux does not ship this vulnerable version of man.


______________________________________________________________________________

3)  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-subscribe@suse.com>.

    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
                <suse-security-announce-subscribe@suse.com>.

    For general information or the frequently asked questions (faq)
    send mail to:
        <suse-security-info@suse.com> or
        <suse-security-faq@suse.com> respectively.

    ====================================================================    SuSE's security contact is <security@suse.com> or <security@suse.de>.
    The <security@suse.de> public key is listed below.
    ====================================================================______________________________________________________________________________

    The information in this advisory may be distributed or reproduced,
    provided that the advisory is not modified in any way. In particular,
    it is desired that the clear-text signature shows proof of the
    authenticity of the text.
    SuSE Linux AG makes no warranties of any kind whatsoever with respect
    to the information contained in this security advisory.

Type Bits/KeyID    Date       User ID
pub  2048R/3D25D3D9 1999-03-06 SuSE Security Team <security@suse.de>
pub  1024D/9C800ACA 2000-10-19 SuSE Package Signing Key <build@suse.de>