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IBM AIX lspath Local File Access Vulnerability
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SUMMARY
The lspath program is "a setuid root application, installed by default
under newer versions of IBM AIX. It is used to display information about
MultiPath I/O devices".
Local exploitation of a file access vulnerability in the lspath command
included by default in multiple versions of IBM Corp.'s AIX operating
system could allow for the reading of one line of any file on the system,
regardless of permissions.
DETAILS
Vulnerable Systems:
* IBM AIX version 5.2
The problem specifically exists in the -f option. If a user specifies a
file with the -f option, the first line (up to the first space) in that
file will be displayed on the screen along with an error message.
Analysis:
The format of sensitive AIX authentication files (namely
/etc/security/passwd) limit the impact of this vulnerability due to the
fact that there is no protected data on the first line of the file.
However, exploitation does not require any knowledge of application
internals, making exploitation of this vulnerability trivial, even for
unskilled attackers.
Workaround:
Only allow trusted users local access to security critical systems.
Alternately, remove the setuid bit from lspath using chmod u-s
/usr/sbin/lspath
Vendor Status:
Vendor advisories for this issue are available at:
* For AIX 5.2:
<https://techsupport.services.ibm.com/server/pseries.subscriptionSvcs?mode=1&heading=AIX52&topic=SECURITY&month=ALL>
AIX 5.2 Security Advisories
* For AIX 5.3:
<https://techsupport.services.ibm.com/server/pseries.subscriptionSvcs?mode=1&heading=AIX53&topic=SECURITY&month=ALL>
AIX 5.3 Security Advisories
Disclosure Timeline:
12/21/2004 - Initial vendor notification
01/07/2004 - Initial vendor response
02/10/2004 - Coordinated public disclosure
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The information has been provided by
<mailto:idlabs-advisories@idefense.com> iDEFENSE.
The original article can be found at:
<http://www.idefense.com/application/poi/display?id=195&type=vulnerabilities>
http://www.idefense.com/application/poi/display?id=195&type=vulnerabilities
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