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CA-92:21                      CERT Advisory
                            December 16, 1992
                ConvexOS and ConvexOS/Secure Vulnerabilities

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The CERT Coordination Center has received information concerning
several vulnerabilities in the following CONVEX Computer Corporation
products: ConvexOS/Secure, CONVEX CXbatch, CONVEX Storage Manager
(CSM), and ConvexOS EMACS.  These vulnerabilities can affect ConvexOS
versions V6.2 - V10.2 and ConvexOS/Secure versions V9.5 and V10.0 on
all supported architectures.

CONVEX is aware of the vulnerabilities, and fixes or workarounds are
available.  Three of the fixes are implemented as full Engineering
Change Notice (ECN) patches and, as such, will be shipped with all new
systems as well as being released as upgrades for the products
CXbatch, CSM and ConvexOS/Secure.  There is a workaround available for
the ConvexOS EMACS vulnerability. CONVEX is currently incorporating
the fixes to these vulnerabilities into future releases of each
product.  Future shipments of these products should not be vulnerable
to these problems.

If you have any questions about the affected products, please contact
your CONVEX representative or the CONVEX Technical Assistance Center
(TAC) at 1-800-952-0379.

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ConvexOS/Secure: passwd patch

I.    Description

      The "passwd" command in ConvexOS/Secure contains a security
      vulnerability in versions V9.5 and V10.0 of ConvexOS/Secure.
      This vulnerability has been fixed in ConvexOS/Secure V10.1.

II.   Impact

      Local users can gain unauthorized root access.

III.  Solution

      Obtain and install ConvexOS/Secure V10.0.2 - Part No.
      710-007815-008.


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Convex CXbatch: qmgr patch

I.    Description

      The "qmgr" command in CONVEX CXbatch versions V1.0 - V2.1.3
      contains a security vulnerability.  This vulnerability is 
      present in ConvexOS V6.2 - V10.2 on systems that have installed 
      the optional CXbatch facility.

II.   Impact

      Local users can gain unauthorized root access.

III.  Solution

      A.  As root, rename the existing version of /usr/convex/qmgr and
          modify the permission (from 6755 to 700) to prevent misuse.

          # /bin/mv /usr/convex/qmgr /usr/convex/qmgr.orig
          # /bin/chmod 700 /usr/convex/qmgr.orig

      B.  Next, obtain and install CONVEX CXbatch V2.1.4 - Part No.
          710-007830-011.

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Convex CSM: migmgr patch

I.    Description

      The "migmgr" command in CONVEX CSM contains a security
      vulnerability, in ConvexOS version V10.1 of systems that have
      installed the CSM facility.  This vulnerability will be fixed
      in the next CSM release.

II.   Impact

      Local users can gain unauthorized root access.

III.  Solution

      A.  As root, rename the existing version of /usr/csm/bin/migmgr and
          modify the permission (from 4755 to 700) to prevent misuse.

          # /bin/mv /usr/csm/bin/migmgr /usr/csm/bin/migmgr.orig
          # /bin/chmod 700 /usr/csm/bin/migmgr.orig

      B.  Next, obtain and install CONVEX CSM V1.0.1 - Part No.
          710-011315-003

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ConvexOS: EMACS editor workaround

I.    Description

      The EMACS Editor in ConvexOS contains a security vulnerability,
      in ConvexOS versions V9.0 - V10.2.

II.   Impact

      Local users can gain unauthorized access to /dev/kmem.

III.  Solution

      As root, remove the setgid bit from /usr/convex/emacs.

          # /bin/chmod 755 /usr/convex/emacs

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The CERT Coordination Center wishes to thank the CONVEX Computer
Corporation for their response to these problems.  We would also like
to thank Bob Vickers from the University of London Computer Centre,
London, England, for reporting the CXbatch problem to us.
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If you believe that your system has been compromised, contact the CERT
Coordination Center or your representative in FIRST (Forum of Incident
Response and Security Teams).

Internet E-mail: cert@cert.org
Telephone: 412-268-7090 (24-hour hotline)
           CERT personnel answer 7:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m. EST(GMT-5)/EDT(GMT-4),
           on call for emergencies during other hours.

CERT Coordination Center
Software Engineering Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890

Past advisories, information about FIRST representatives, and other
information related to computer security are available for anonymous FTP
from cert.org (192.88.209.5).


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