CERT Vendor-Initiated Bulletin VB-95:01 March 2, 1995 Topic: Security Vulnerability in Remote Watch Source: Hewlett-Packard Company To aid in the wide distribution of essential security information, the CERT Coordination Center is forwarding the following information from Hewlett-Packard. Hewlett-Packard urges you to act on this information as soon as possible. Their contact information is included in the forwarded text below; please contact them if you have any questions or need further information. ========================FORWARDED TEXT STARTS HERE============================ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEWLETT-PACKARD SECURITY BULLETIN: #00020, 31 January 95 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hewlett-Packard recommends that the information in the following Security Bulletin should be acted upon as soon as possible. Hewlett- Packard will not be liable for any consequences to any customer resulting from customer's failure to fully implement instructions in this Security Bulletin as soon as possible. _______________________________________________________________________ PROBLEM: Security vulnerability in Remote Watch in fileset WATCH-RUN for releases of HP-UX. PLATFORM: HP 9000 series 300/400s & 700/800s running HP-UX revisions 8.X, 9.X. DAMAGE: A vulnerability in Remote Watch exists allowing users to potentially gain increased privileges. SOLUTION: Apply patch PHSS_5136 (series 800 , HP-UX 9.X), or PHSS_5185 (series 800 , HP-UX 8.X), or PHSS_5107 (series 700 , HP-UX 9.X), or PHSS_5180 (series 700 , HP-UX 8.X), or PHSS_5120 (series 300/400, HP-UX 9.X), or PHSS_5168 (series 300/400, HP-UX 8.X). AVAILABILITY: All patches are available now. _______________________________________________________________________ I. Update A. It has been found that HP-UX systems with Remote Watch installed have this vulnerability. The vulnerability allows users to potentially gain increased privileges. If these patches are installed, then the vulnerability cannot be exploited. B. Fixing the problem The vulnerability can be eliminated from releases 8.X and 9.X of HP-UX by applying a patch. Hewlett-Packard recommends that all customers concerned with the security of their HP-UX systems apply the appropriate patch as soon as possible. C. How to Install the Patch (for HP-UX 8.X and 9.X) 1. Determine which patch is appropriate for your hardware platform and operating system: PHSS_5136 (series 800 , HP-UX 9.X), PHSS_5185 (series 800 , HP-UX 8.X), PHSS_5107 (series 700 , HP-UX 9.X), PHSS_5180 (series 700 , HP-UX 8.X), PHSS_5120 (series 300/400, HP-UX 9.X), PHSS_5168 (series 300/400, HP-UX 8.X), 2. Hewlett Packard's HP-UX patches are available via email and WWW (MOSAIC) To obtain a copy of the HP SupportLine email service user's guide, send the following in the TEXT PORTION OF THE MESSAGE to support@support.mayfield.hp.com (no Subject is required): send guide The users guide explains the process for downloading HP-UX patches via email and other services available. WWW (MOSAIC) service (downloading of patches) is also available via WWW (MOSAIC) our URL is: (http://support.mayfield.hp.com) 3. Apply the patch to your HP-UX system. 4. Examine /tmp/update.log for any relevant WARNINGs or ERRORs. This can be done as follows: a. At the shell prompt, type "tail -60 /tmp/update.log | more" b. Page through the next three screens via the space bar, looking for WARNING or ERROR messages. D. Impact of the patch and workaround No patches will be available for versions of HP-UX prior to 8.0. E. To subscribe to automatically receive future NEW HP Security Bulletins from the HP SupportLine mail service via electronic mail, send an email message to: support@support.mayfield.hp.com (no Subject is required) Multiple instructions are allowed in the TEXT PORTION OF THE MESSAGE, here are some basic instructions you may want to use: To add your name to the subscription list for new security bulletins, send the following in the TEXT PORTION OF THE MESSAGE: subscribe security_info To retrieve the index of all HP Security Bulletins issued to date, send the following in the TEXT PORTION OF THE MESSAGE: send security_info_list WWW (MOSAIC) service (Browsing of Bulletins) is also available via WWW (MOSAIC) our URL is: (http://support.mayfield.hp.com) Choose "Support News", then under Support News, choose "Security Bulletins" F. To report new security vulnerabilities, send email to: security-alert@hp.com =========================FORWARDED TEXT ENDS HERE============================= CERT bulletins, CERT advisories, information about FIRST representatives, and other information related to computer security are available for anonymous FTP from info.cert.org. CERT advisories and bulletins are also posted on the USENET newsgroup comp.security.announce. If you would like to have future advisories and bulletins mailed to you or to a mail exploder at your site, please send mail to cert-advisory-request@cert.org. If you wish to send sensitive incident or vulnerability information to CERT staff by electronic mail, we strongly advise that the e-mail be encrypted. The CERT Coordination Center can support a shared DES key, PGP (public key available via anonymous FTP on info.cert.org), or PEM (contact CERT staff for details). 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