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________________________________________________________________________________
        Sun Microsystems, Inc. Security Bulletin
     
Bulletin Number:  #00192
Date:       December 29, 1999
Cross-Ref:    CERT CA-99-11
Title:      CDE and OpenWindows
________________________________________________________________________________

The information contained in this Security Bulletin is provided "AS IS." 
Sun makes no warranties of any kind whatsoever with respect to the information 
contained in this Security Bulletin. ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED CONDITIONS, 
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OF NON-INFRINGEMENT OR 
IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE 
HEREBY DISCLAIMED AND EXCLUDED TO THE EXTENT ALLOWED BY APPLICABLE LAW.

IN NO EVENT WILL SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC. BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOST REVENUE, 
PROFIT OR DATA, OR FOR DIRECT, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL 
OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES HOWEVER CAUSED AND REGARDLESS OF ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY 
ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN 
THIS SECURITY BULLETIN, EVEN IF SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC. HAS BEEN ADVISED OF 
THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

If any of the above provisions are held to be in violation of applicable law, 
void, or unenforceable in any jurisdiction, then such provisions are waived 
to the extent necessary for this disclaimer to be otherwise enforceable in 
such jurisdiction.
________________________________________________________________________________

1.  Bulletin Topics

    Sun announces the release of patches for Solaris(tm) 7, 2.6, 2.5.1, 2.5,
    2.4, 2.3 (SunOS(tm) 5.7, 5.6, 5.5.1, 5.5, 5.4, 5.3), and SunOS 4.1.4,
    and 4.1.3_U1 which relate to various vulnerabilities in CDE and 
    OpenWindows.
        
    Sun recommends that you install the patches listed in section 4 
    immediately on systems running SunOS 5.7, 5.6, 5.5.1, 5.5, 5.4, 5.3,
    4.1.4, and 4.1.3_U1.
     
2.  Who is Affected
  
    Vulnerable:     SunOS 5.7, 5.7_x86, 5.6, 5.6_x86, 5.5.1, 5.5, 5.4, 5.3,
            4.1.4, and 4.1.3_U1.
                 
    Not vulnerable: All other supported versions of SunOS.
    
3.  Understanding the Vulnerabilities
    
    The following vulnerabilities have been identified.

3.1 ToolTalk ttsession default authentication mechanism insecure

    The ToolTalk messaging utility, ttsession, allows independent 
    applications to communicate without having direct knowledge of 
    each other. The ttsession daemon is started automatically by 
    any program that needs to send or receive a ToolTalk message. It uses 
    AUTH_UNIX authentication by default. A local or remote attacker may 
    manipulate certain environment variables (which are used by ttsession 
    to determine how client messages are handled) to execute arbitrary 
    commands with the privileges of the running ttsession.
    
3.2 CDE dtspcd relies on file-system based authentication

    The CDE desktop subprocess control program (dtspcd) is a network
    daemon that accepts requests from clients to execute commands and
    launch applications remotely. By manipulating predictable files used 
    for authentication, a local attacker may exploit this vulnerability 
    to execute arbitrary commands and gain root access.

3.3 CDE dtaction buffer overflow 

    The dtaction utility allows applications or shell scripts, which are
    otherwise not connected into the CDE user environment, to request 
    CDE actions be performed. A buffer overflow vulnerability has been 
    discovered which may be exploited by a local attacker to execute 
    arbitrary instructions and gain root access.

3.4 CDE ToolTalk shared library buffer overflow in TT_SESSION

    A buffer overflow vulnerability has been discovered in the ToolTalk
    shared library which may be exploited by a local attacker to execute 
    arbitrary instructions and gain root access.

4.  List of Patches

    Patches for vulnerability described in section 3.1

      SunOS version  Patch ID  
      _____________  _________
    
      5.7    107893-04
      5.7_x86    107894-04     
      5.6    105802-11  
      5.6_x86    105803-13
      5.5.1    104489-10
      5.5.1_x86    105496-08
      5.5    104428-08
      5.5_x86    105495-06
      5.4    102734-05
          108636-01 (see Note 1)
      5.4_x86    108641-01
          108637-01 (see Note 1)
      5.3    Patch will be available in 2 weeks
      4.1.4, 4.1.3_U1  Patch will be available in 2 weeks
          
      Note 1: Install patch if CDE 1.0.2 or 1.0.1 is installed.

    Patches for vulnerability described in section 3.2
        
      CDE version  SunOS version      Patch ID  
      ___________  _____________      _________

      1.3    5.7        108221-01 
      1.3_x86    5.7_x86        108222-01 
      1.2    5.6        108199-01 
      1.2_x86    5.6_x86        108200-01 
      1.0.2    5.5.1, 5.5, 5.4      108205-01 
      1.0.2_x86    5.5.1_x86, 5.5_x86, 5.4_x86  108206-01  
      1.0.1    5.5, 5.4      108252-01 
      1.0.1_x86    5.5_x86, 5.4_x86    108253-01 

    Patches for vulnerability described in section 3.3
    
      CDE version  SunOS version      Patch ID  
      ___________  _____________      _________
    
      1.3    5.7        108219-01 
      1.3_x86    5.7_x86        108220-01  
      1.2    5.6        108201-01 
      1.2_x86    5.6_x86        108202-01
      1.0.2    5.5.1, 5.5, 5.4      108289-02
      1.0.2_x86    5.5.1_x86, 5.5_x86, 5.4_x86  108290-03 
      1.0.1    5.5, 5.4      108254-01 
      1.0.1_x86    5.5_x86, 5.4_x86    108255-01 
       
    Patches for vulnerability described in section 3.4
    
      SunOS version  Patch ID  
      _____________  _________
    
      5.7    107893-04 
      5.7_x86    107894-04 
      5.6    105802-11  
      5.6_x86    105803-13 
      5.5.1        104489-10
      5.5.1_x86    105496-08
      5.5    104428-08
      5.5_x86    105495-06
      5.4    102734-05
            108636-01 (see Note 2)
      5.4_x86    108641-01
            108637-01 (see Note 2)
      5.3    101495-04
      4.1.4, 4.1.3_U1  100626-10

      Note 2: Install patch if CDE 1.0.2 or 1.0.1 is installed.

_______________________________________________________________________________
APPENDICES

A.  Patches listed in this bulletin are available to all Sun customers at:
    
    http://sunsolve.sun.com/pub-cgi/show.pl?target=patches/patch-license&nav=pub-patches

B.  Checksums for the patches listed in this bulletin are available at:

    ftp://sunsolve.sun.com/pub/patches/CHECKSUMS

C.  Sun security bulletins are available at:

    http://sunsolve.sun.com/pub-cgi/secBulletin.pl
  
D.  Sun Security Coordination Team's PGP key is available at:

    http://sunsolve.sun.com/pgpkey.txt
                    
E.  To report or inquire about a security problem with Sun software, contact 
    one or more of the following:
  
        - Your local Sun Solution Center
        - Your representative computer security response team, such as CERT 
        - Sun Security Coordination Team. Send email to:
   
         security-alert@sun.com

F.  To receive information or subscribe to our CWS (Customer Warning System) 
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        security-alert@sun.com
   
    with a subject line (not body) containing one of the following commands:

        Command         Information Returned/Action Taken
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        help            An explanation of how to get information
        
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        send topic      A short status summary or bulletin. For example, to 
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                              subscribe cws your-email-address
      
                        Note that your-email-address should be substituted
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        unsubscribe     Sender is removed from the CWS mailing list.
________________________________________________________________________________

Copyright 1999 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. Sun, 
Sun Microsystems, Solaris and SunOS are trademarks or registered trademarks 
of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. This 
Security Bulletin may be reproduced and distributed, provided that this 
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