

CA-90:04                       CERT Advisory
                               July 27, 1990
   		    Apollo Domain/OS suid_exec Problem
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The CERT/CC has received the following report of a vulnerability in the
Hewlett Packard/Apollo Domain/OS system.  This information was provided to
the CERT/CC by the Apollo Systems Division of Hewlett Packard:

  This message is to alert administrators of Domain/OS systems of a
  serious security problem in all versions of Domain/OS Release sr10.2
  and in Beta versions of sr10.3 earlier than bl67. This problem is
  NOT present in sr10.1 or earlier versions of Domain/OS. This problem
  can be referred to as APR number DE278, other APRs have been filed
  against this problem.

  There is a known flaw in the file /etc/suid_exec. This file should
  be deleted IMMEDIATELY from the /etc directories on all HP/Apollo
  nodes AND from all authorized areas on HP/Apollo networks from which
  software can be installed.

  The files that must be deleted are:
	On each node:
 		//<node>/etc/suid_exec

	In each Authorized Area:

		<AA>/install/ri.apollo.os.v.10.2/sys5.3/etc/suid_exec
		<AA>/install/ri.apollo.os.v.10.2/bsd4.3/etc/suid_exec
		<AA>/install/ri.apollo.os.v.10.2.p/sys5.3/etc/suid_exec
		<AA>/install/ri.apollo.os.v.10.2.p/bsd4.3/etc/suid_exec


  You must be 'root' or 'locksmith' in order to delete these files.

  The removal of these files will resolve the security vulnerability
  immediately.

  This procedure will require that the install tool should be run with the
  -x option ( continue on error - see Installing Software with Apollo's
  Release and Installation Tools, Apollo order number 008860-A00, chapter
  4) for all subsequent installations until the replacement files have been
  obtained. The absence of these files in the authorized areas will
  generate an error message during the installation process, and, if the -x
  option is not specified when invoking the installation tool, will
  terminate the install.

  This file is normally required by the Korn Shell to run set-id Korn Shell
  scripts, but is a no-op on HP/Apollo systems since Domain/OS does NOT
  support the execution of set-id shell scripts. Its purpose is to serve as
  the 'agent' described in the manual page for the Korn Shell under
  'Execution'. An error during compilation introduced the reported
  vulnerability. The removal of this file will have no affect on the
  functionality provided by HP/Apollo systems, but will affect the
  installation procedure as mentioned in the previous paragraph.

  HP/Apollo is creating an incremental software release that will replace
  these files with the correctly compiled version of the suid_exec program.
  This incremental release will be made available to software maintenance
  customers shortly. Those users not on a HP/Apollo maintenance contract
  should be able to order the replacement files as HP/Apollo part number
  018669-A00, SR10.2 Incremental Software Release. Once installed, the
  replacement files will permit normal installation of software. They will
  NOT permit set-id shell scripts to be run on Domain/OS installations.

  The repaired file will also be available as patch_m0170 on 68000-based
  systems, and patch_p0136 on DN10000-based systems. These patches are
  scheduled to be on the August patch tape. The problem has already been
  addressed in the next release of Domain/OS.

For more information, please contact Hewlett Packard/Apollo Customer
Service.

Thanks to John G. Griffith of Hewlett Packard for this information.
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Computer Emergency Response Team/Coordination Center (CERT/CC)
Software Engineering Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890

Internet: cert@cert.org
Telephone: 412-268-7090 24-hour hotline: CERT personnel answer
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