______________________________________________________________________________

                        SuSE Security Announcement

        Package:                mod_php4
        Announcement-ID:        SuSE-SA:2003:0009
        Date:                   Tuesday, Feb. 18th 2003 18:22 MET
        Affected products:      8.1
                                SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8
        Vulnerability Type:     remote system compromise
        Severity (1-10):        2
        SuSE default package:   no
        Cross References:       CAN-2002-1396

    Content of this advisory:
        1) security vulnerability resolved: buffer overflow
           problem description, discussion, solution and upgrade information
        2) pending vulnerabilities, solutions, workarounds:
            - libmcrypt
        3) standard appendix (further information)

______________________________________________________________________________

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

    The Apache module mod_php4 supports the widely used Web scripting
    language PHP.
    Under some special circumstances a buffer overflow can be triggered
    in mod_php4's wordwrap() function. This buffer overflow can be used
    to overwrite heap memory and possibly can lead to remote system
    compromise.
    Just mod_php4 versions greater than 4.1.2 and less than 4.3.0
    are vulnerable. This affects SuSE Linux 8.1 and all SuSE Linux
    Enterprise Server 8 based products.

    There is no temporary fix known. Please install the new packages from
    our FTP servers.

    After updating the mod_php4 module has to be reloaded by Apache.
    This can be done by restarting the apache webserver using the following
    command as root:
         rcapache restart
    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.



    Intel i386 Platform:

    SuSE-8.1:
      
      5a6c81dc2b214142dbea1dcef06d1fcf
    patch rpm(s):
      
      8e95af112e690034e8e851143d63db46

      
      6c2931abeab4433c1c243b7a96505366
    patch rpm(s):
      
      dacf9f57a098b292e62b9ddc25a84a40


      
      ddaa55a270c028fd0afd3159b1299f61
    patch rpm(s):
      
      702c465ede7dbeb6c4652b2f3ea1c5f4

      
      87d7b9d5e5a3f5e25aa6096903979fdd
    patch rpm(s):
      
      a1fef4f3966a83de8a11a36f395b9a82

      
      9579610398d92fefbf859e33fd500401
    patch rpm(s):
      
      1bd0367d2fef87ae1fc134825c17319b

    source rpm(s):
      
      71d85b24a8c57a45a5a66fab56c7b1b8

______________________________________________________________________________

2)  Pending vulnerabilities in SuSE Distributions and Workarounds:

    - libmcrypt
      Several buffer overflows in libmcrypt were discovered by Ilia
      Alshanetsky. The buffer overflows can lead to system compromise.
      New packages are currently being build.

______________________________________________________________________________

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>