__________________________________________________________ The U.S. Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability ___ __ __ _ ___ / | /_\ / \___ __|__ / \ \___ __________________________________________________________ INFORMATION BULLETIN Red Hat Linux modutils Vulnerability November 17, 2000 19:00 GMT Number L-020 ______________________________________________________________________________ PROBLEM: The package "modutils" has a vulnerability that can allow arbitrary code to be run as root. PLATFORM: Those running the following software: Red Hat Linux 6.2 - i386, alpha, sparc Red Hat Linux 6.2EE - i386, alpha, sparc Red Hat Linux 7.0 - i386 Red Hat Linux 7.0J - i386 DAMAGE: A local user can, without proper authorization, execute arbitrary code with elevated (root) privileges. SOLUTION: Apply the patches as directed by the vendor. ______________________________________________________________________________ VULNERABILITY The risk is HIGH. Exploits have been discussed in public ASSESSMENT: forums. ______________________________________________________________________________ [ Start Red Hat, Inc. Advisory ] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Red Hat, Inc. Security Advisory Synopsis: Updated modutils fixing local root security bug available Advisory ID: RHSA-2000:108-02 Issue date: 2000-11-16 Updated on: 2000-11-16 Product: Red Hat Linux Keywords: modutils root exploit security Cross references: N/A --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Topic: A local root exploit in modutils has been fixed. 2. Relevant releases/architectures: Red Hat Linux 6.2 - i386, alpha, sparc Red Hat Linux 6.2EE - i386, alpha, sparc Red Hat Linux 7.0 - i386 Red Hat Linux 7.0J - i386 3. Problem description: modutils, a package that helps the kernel automatically load kernel modules (device drivers etc.) when they're needed, could be abused to execute code as root. modutils versions between 2.3.0 and 2.3.20 are affected. 4. Solution: For each RPM for your particular architecture, run: rpm -Fvh [filename] where filename is the name of the RPM. 5. Bug IDs fixed (http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla for more info): 20749 - local root exploit via modutils 6. RPMs required: Red Hat Linux 6.2: alpha: ftp://updates.redhat.com/6.2/alpha/modutils-2.3.20-0.6.2.alpha.rpm sparc: ftp://updates.redhat.com/6.2/sparc/modutils-2.3.20-0.6.2.sparc.rpm i386: ftp://updates.redhat.com/6.2/i386/modutils-2.3.20-0.6.2.i386.rpm sources: ftp://updates.redhat.com/6.2/SRPMS/modutils-2.3.20-0.6.2.src.rpm Red Hat Linux 7.0: i386: ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.0/i386/modutils-2.3.20-1.i386.rpm sources: ftp://updates.redhat.com/7.0/SRPMS/modutils-2.3.20-1.src.rpm 7. Verification: MD5 sum Package Name -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0b4bb8f26ac126db756cfbc84543d7cf 6.2/SRPMS/modutils-2.3.20-0.6.2.src.rpm 7540818796b9ab0961465f67118ffac9 6.2/alpha/modutils-2.3.20-0.6.2.alpha.rpm 206cb6ccd33a0f16803695e0246abb35 6.2/i386/modutils-2.3.20-0.6.2.i386.rpm d8226ab998719f79f3df9d4e9a6bb88a 6.2/sparc/modutils-2.3.20-0.6.2.sparc.rpm 1502c3cc848fec4ecdaf5903b9f2cbb4 7.0/SRPMS/modutils-2.3.20-1.src.rpm 166b7512c784ffaa4233e8f71ef712cd 7.0/i386/modutils-2.3.20-1.i386.rpm These packages are GPG signed by Red Hat, Inc. for security. Our key is available at: http://www.redhat.com/corp/contact.html You can verify each package with the following command: rpm --checksig If you only wish to verify that each package has not been corrupted or tampered with, examine only the md5sum with the following command: rpm --checksig --nogpg 8. References: N/A Copyright(c) 2000 Red Hat, Inc. [ End Red Hat, Inc. Advisory ] _______________________________________________________________________________ CIAC wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Red Hat, Inc. for the information contained in this bulletin. _______________________________________________________________________________ CIAC, the Computer Incident Advisory Capability, is the computer security incident response team for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the emergency backup response team for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). CIAC is located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. CIAC is also a founding member of FIRST, the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams, a global organization established to foster cooperation and coordination among computer security teams worldwide. CIAC services are available to DOE, DOE contractors, and the NIH. 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