AIX bugfiler

[aleph1 () DFW NET (Aleph One)]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 8 Sep 1997 15:55:43 +0200
From: Johannes Schwabe <schwabe () rzaix530 rz uni-leipzig de>
To: best-of-security () cyber com au
Subject: BoS: AIX bugfiler


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bugfiler vulnerability                                    September 1997
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Systems Affected:
        Certain AIX machines. Others: unknown.
        (Vulnerability seen on AIX 3.* systems; no AIX 4.* machine
         inspected exhibited the flaw; all AIX 3.* machines inspected
         were vulnerable; very limited sample size though)

Description:
        bugfiler (/lib/bugfiler) is SUID root.

Impact:
        Local users can circumvent file access restrictions,
        leading to increased privileges. Depending on the
        installation of the system, root privileges may be gained.

Exploit:
        $whoami
        eviluser
        $/lib/bugfiler -b <user> <directory>

        creates funny files under the <user>-owned <directory>
        and that may be used by crackers to increase privileges.
        See the manpage of bugfiler for more information.
        (bugfiler does not work for some <user>s)

Further information:
        bugfiler is intended to be run from a mail alias, handle
        bug reports piped to it, and maintain a database of
        bug reports in the specified directory. There should be
        no need for mere mortals executing it, and it should
        be prevented that local users run it. On systems not using
        bugfiler at all, the suggestion for the admin is to simply remove
        the SUID bit from all bugfiler binaries.
        (The actual fix may differ from system to system.)

        Mail from "<bugs@...> (Bugs Bunny)" may mean that /lib/bugfiler
        was executed.

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        (Maybe this is old news, but I could not find any information
        about it on the web.)

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Copyright (c) 1997 Johannes Schwabe, schwabe () rzaix530 rz uni-leipzig de
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