X11 vulnerable to buffer overflow in handling of -xrm option

Overview

The X11 library included with many UNIX variants contains a buffer-overflow vulnerability that may allow attackers to gain root privileges.

Description

The X11 library contains an unspecified buffer-overflow vulnerability. Programs that use this library and accept the -xrm option (including xterm) also contain this vulnerability.

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Impact

Attackers may be able to gain root privileges by exploiting affected setuid root programs (such as xterm) that use the X11 library.

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Solution

Apply a patch

See the Systems Affected section for details, or contact your vendor directly.

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None.

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Vendor Information

169059

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The SCO Group (SCO UnixWare) __ Affected

Notified: January 28, 2002 Updated: September 13, 2002

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

Any command linked to this library that accepts the -xrm option [including xterm] will core dump if a long string is used as the argument. Any setuid setgid program that accepts the -xrm option is vulnerable to attack.

We now have fixes for this issue for both Open UNIX and UnixWare on our security website:

<http://stage.caldera.com/support/security/&gt;

as advisory CSSA-2002-SCO.15.

Vendor Information

The vendor has not provided us with any further information regarding this vulnerability.

Addendum

The CERT/CC has no additional comments at this time.

If you have feedback, comments, or additional information about this vulnerability, please send us [email](<mailto:[email protected]?Subject=VU%23169059 Feedback>).

Apple Computer Inc. __ Not Affected

Notified: September 12, 2002 Updated: September 16, 2002

Status

Not Affected

Vendor Statement

Regarding VU#169059 - X11 vulnerable to buffer overflow, we do not ship the X11 libraries in Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server.

This means that Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server are not vulnerable to this problem unless a user adds the X11 libraries on their own.

Vendor Information

The vendor has not provided us with any further information regarding this vulnerability.

Addendum

The CERT/CC has no additional comments at this time.

If you have feedback, comments, or additional information about this vulnerability, please send us [email](<mailto:[email protected]?Subject=VU%23169059 Feedback>).

Hewlett-Packard Company __ Not Affected

Notified: September 12, 2002 Updated: March 24, 2003

Status

Not Affected

Vendor Statement

Source: Hewlett-Packard Company Software Security Response Team

cross reference id: SSRT2275
HP-UX - not vulnerable
HP-MPE/ix - not vulnerable
HP Tru64 UNIX - not vulnerable
HP OpenVMS - not vulnerable
HP NonStop Servers - not vulnerable
To report potential security vulnerabilities in HP software, send an E-mail message to: [mailto:[email protected]](<mailto:[email protected]>)

Vendor Information

The vendor has not provided us with any further information regarding this vulnerability.

Addendum

The CERT/CC has no additional comments at this time.

If you have feedback, comments, or additional information about this vulnerability, please send us [email](<mailto:[email protected]?Subject=VU%23169059 Feedback>).

MontaVista Software __ Not Affected

Notified: September 12, 2002 Updated: September 16, 2002

Status

Not Affected

Vendor Statement

None of our products are vulnerable to this issue.

Vendor Information

The vendor has not provided us with any further information regarding this vulnerability.

Addendum

The CERT/CC has no additional comments at this time.

If you have feedback, comments, or additional information about this vulnerability, please send us [email](<mailto:[email protected]?Subject=VU%23169059 Feedback>).

Openwall GNU/*/Linux __ Not Affected

Notified: September 12, 2002 Updated: September 16, 2002

Status

Not Affected

Vendor Statement

We don’t re-distribute X11.

Vendor Information

The vendor has not provided us with any further information regarding this vulnerability.

Addendum

The CERT/CC has no additional comments at this time.

If you have feedback, comments, or additional information about this vulnerability, please send us [email](<mailto:[email protected]?Subject=VU%23169059 Feedback>).

CVSS Metrics

Group	Score	Vector
Base
Temporal
Environmental

References

• <http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/bulletins/h-92a.shtml&gt;
• <ftp://ftp.x.org/pub/R6.3/fixes/fix-02&gt;
• <http://stage.caldera.com/support/security/&gt;
• <ftp://stage.caldera.com/pub/security/openunix/CSSA-2002-SCO.15/CSSA-2002-SCO.15.txt&gt;

Acknowledgements

Thanks to jG gM for reporting this vulnerability.

This document was written by Shawn Van Ittersum.

Other Information

CVE IDs:	CVE-2002-0517
Severity Metric:	6.78 Date Public: