__________________________________________________________ The U.S. Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Center ___ __ __ _ ___ / | /_\ / \___ __|__ / \ \___ __________________________________________________________ INFORMATION BULLETIN Oracle Trace Collection Security Vulnerability [Oracle Security Alert # 19] October 29, 2001 20:00 GMT Number M-011 ______________________________________________________________________________ PROBLEM: An error in the way Oracle otrcrep binary performs translation on the ORACLE_HOME variable causes a buffer overflow. PLATFORM: All Oracle database server releases (8.0.x, 8.1.x, and 9.0.1) on all UNIX platforms. DAMAGE: This buffer overflow allows a local user to potentially upgrade privileges and execute any arbitrary code allowed with oracle user and/or DBA group privileges. SOLUTION: Apply the workaround described below (change the file permissions on all of the Oracle Trace executables as described). ______________________________________________________________________________ VULNERABILITY The risk is MEDIUM. This buffer overflow results in a privilege ASSESSMENT: upgrade. That is, it requires the attacker to have local user privileges on the vulnerable machine. ______________________________________________________________________________ LINKS: CIAC BULLETIN: http://www.ciac.org/ciac/bulletins/m-011.shtml ORIGINAL BULLETIN: http://otn.oracle.com/deploy/security/pdf/otrcrep.pdf ______________________________________________________________________________ [***** Start Oracle Security Alert # 19 *****] Security Alert #19 Reference Date: 10/18/01 Oracle Trace Collection Security Vulnerability Overview A potential security vulnerability has been discovered in the handling of the environment variable, ORACLE_HOME. A buffer overflow is caused when the Oracle binary, otrcrep, translates the environment variable, ORACLE_HOME, into a string of 240 or more bytes. The Oracle binary otrcrep runs with the SETUID oracle privileges in the operating system DBA group. The buffer overflow may be exploited by a local user to force overwriting of stack variables in shared memory including the return memory address(es) and thereby execute arbitrary (or specific, malicious) code with the privileges of the oracle user and/or the DBA group privileges. Products All Oracle database server releases (8.0.x, 8.1.x and 9.0.1) Platforms All Unix platforms Workaround If the ORACLE_HOME environment variable is being translated into a string of 240 or more bytes, disable Oracle Trace by setting its control parameter in init.ora as follows: oracle_trace_enable=FALSE Change the file permissions on all of the Oracle Trace executables as follows: % chmod -s otrccol otrccref otrcfmt otrcrep % chmod 751 otrccol otrccref otrcfmt otrcrep Patches The potential security vulnerability will be code-fixed in the next release of the Oracle database server which is Oracle9i, Release 2, only. All other releases of the Oracle database (8.0.x, 8.1.x and 9.0.1) must use follow the workarounds specified above to circumvent the potential security vulnerability. Credits Oracle wishes to thank Juan Manuel Pascual EscribĂ for discovering these vulnerabilities and promptly bringing them to Oracle's attention. [***** End Oracle Security Alert # 19 *****] _______________________________________________________________________________ CIAC wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Oracle for the information contained in this bulletin. _______________________________________________________________________________ CIAC, the Computer Incident Advisory Center, 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. CIAC can be contacted at: Voice: +1 925-422-8193 (7x24) FAX: +1 925-423-8002 STU-III: +1 925-423-2604 E-mail: ciac@ciac.org Previous CIAC notices, anti-virus software, and other information are available from the CIAC Computer Security Archive. World Wide Web: http://www.ciac.org/ Anonymous FTP: ftp.ciac.org PLEASE NOTE: Many users outside of the DOE, ESnet, and NIH computing communities receive CIAC bulletins. If you are not part of these communities, please contact your agency's response team to report incidents. Your agency's team will coordinate with CIAC. The Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) is a world-wide organization. A list of FIRST member organizations and their constituencies can be obtained via WWW at http://www.first.org/. This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor the University of California nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation or favoring by the United States Government or the University of California. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or the University of California, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. 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