Linux Advisory Watch – August 26, 2005

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Author: Benjamin D. Thomas

This week, advisories were releaed for bluez-utils, thunderbird, mysql, epiphany, system-config-netboot, kdbg, doxygen, kdeedu, ncpfs, gaim, system-config-bind, tar, vnc, metacity, cups, pygtk, slocate, myodbc, xpdf, libgal2, dhcpv, diskdumputils, kdebase, cvs, hwdata, eject, pcre, kismet, wikiwiki, apache, tor, netpbm, vim, and elm. The distributors include Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, and Red Hat.

Introduction: IP Spoofing
By: Suhas A Desai

An article on “Security Problems in the TCP/IP Protocol Suite” by S.M.Bellovin
in 1989 initially explored IP Spoofing attacks . He described how Robert Morris,
creator of the now infamous Internet Worm, figured out how TCP created sequence
numbers and forged a TCP packet sequence.

This TCP packet included the destination address of his victim and
using as IP spoofing attack Morris was able to obtain root access
to his targeted system without a User ID or password.

Introduction:

IP spoofing is a technique used to gain unauthorized access to
computers, whereby the attacker sends messages to a computer with
a forging IP address indicating that the message is coming from a
trusted host. There are a few variations on the types of attacks
that using IP spoofing.

1.non-blind spoofing

This attack takes place when the attacker is on the same subnet
as the target that could see sequence and acknowledgement of
packets. The threat of this type of spoofing is session hijacking
and an attacker could bypass any authentication measures taken
place to build the connection. This is accomplished by corrupting
the DataStream of an established connection, then re-establishing
it based on correct sequence and acknowledgement numbers with the
attack machine.

2.Blind spoofing

This attack may take place from outside where sequence and
acknowledgement numbers are unreachable. Attackers usually send
several packets to the target machine in order to sample sequence
numbers, which is doable in older days. Today, most OSs implement
random sequence number generation, making it difficult to predict
them accurately. If, however, the sequence number was compromised,
data could be sent to the target.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE:
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/120225/49/

LinuxSecurity.com
Feature Extras:

Linux File
& Directory Permissions Mistakes – One common mistake Linux administrators
make is having file and directory permissions that are far too liberal and
allow access beyond that which is needed for proper system operations. A full
explanation of unix file permissions is beyond the scope of this article,
so I’ll assume you are familiar with the usage of such tools as chmod, chown,
and chgrp. If you’d like a refresher, one is available right here on linuxsecurity.com.

Introduction:
Buffer Overflow Vulnerabilities – Buffer overflows are a leading type
of security vulnerability. This paper explains what a buffer overflow is,
how it can be exploited, and what countermeasures can be taken to prevent
the use of buffer overflow vulnerabilities.

Getting
to Know Linux Security: File Permissions – Welcome to the first
tutorial in the ‘Getting to Know Linux Security’ series. The topic explored
is Linux file permissions. It offers an easy to follow explanation of how
to read permissions, and how to set them using chmod. This guide is intended
for users new to Linux security, therefore very simple. If the feedback is
good, I’ll consider creating more complex guides for advanced users. Please
let us know what you think and how these can be improved.

 

Take advantage of our Linux Security discussion
list! This mailing list is for general security-related questions and comments.
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Thank you for reading the LinuxSecurity.com
weekly security newsletter. The purpose of this document is to provide our readers
with a quick summary of each week’s most relevant Linux security headline.

   Debian
  Debian: New bluez-utils packages fix
arbitrary command execution
  23rd, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Debian: New Mozilla Thunderbird packages
fix several vulnerabilities
  23rd, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Debian: New mysql packages fix insecure
temporary file
  24th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
   Fedora
  Fedora Core 4 Update: epiphany-1.6.5-1
  18th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: system-config-netboot-0.1.26-1_FC4
  18th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update: kdbg-2.0.0-0.fc3.1
  18th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: doxygen-1.4.4-0.fc4.1
  18th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: kdbg-2.0.0-0.fc4.1
  18th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: kdeedu-3.4.2-0.fc4.2
  18th, August, 2005

Ben Burton notified the KDE security team about several tempfile
handling related vulnerabilities in langen2kvtml, a conversion script
for kvoctrain. The script must be manually invoked.
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update: ncpfs-2.2.4-4.FC3.1
  18th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update: gaim-1.5.0-1.fc3
  18th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: gaim-1.5.0-1.fc4
  18th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update: system-config-bind-4.0.0-30
  18th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: system-config-bind-4.0.0-30_FC4
  18th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update: pcre-4.5-3.1
  18th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: tar-1.15.1-8.FC4
  18th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: gstreamer-plugins-0.8.8-9
  18th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: vnc-4.1.1-10.1
  18th, August, 2005

This package disables the render patch, which was causing problems
when using the loadable X module.
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update: netpbm-10.28-1.FC3.2
  18th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: metacity-2.10.3-1
  18th, August, 2005

This update of metacity fixes the behavior of minimized transient
dialogs for some applications.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: cups-1.1.23-15.1
  18th, August, 2005

These updated packages fix a problem handling PDF files that
could have security implications.
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update: cups-1.1.22-0.rc1.8.6
  18th, August, 2005

These updated packages fix a problem handling PDF files that
could have security implications.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: pygtk2-2.6.2-0.fc4.1
  18th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: shadow-utils-4.0.7-10.FC4
  18th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: netpbm-10.28-1.FC4.2
  18th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: slocate-2.7-22.fc4.1
  22nd, August, 2005

A carefully prepared directory structure could stop the updatedb
file system scan, resulting in an incomplete slocate database. The Common
Vulnerabilities and Exposures project has assigned the name CAN-2005-2499
to this issue.
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update: slocate-2.7-12.fc3.1
  22nd, August, 2005

A carefully prepared directory structure could stop the updatedb
file system scan, resulting in an incomplete slocate database. The Common
Vulnerabilities and Exposures project has assigned the name CAN-2005-2499
to this issue.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: MyODBC-2.50.39-25.FC4.1
  22nd, August, 2005

Fix a problem with extra rows inserted because of mistaken pre-execution
of a query. See also http://bugs.mysql.com/bug.php?id=4264
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update: MyODBC-2.50.39-25.FC3.1
  22nd, August, 2005

Fix a problem with extra rows inserted because of mistaken pre-execution
of a query. See also http://bugs.mysql.com/bug.php?id=4264
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update: doxygen-1.4.4-0.fc3.1
  22nd, August, 2005

update to 1.4.4
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: xpdf-3.01-0.FC4.1
  22nd, August, 2005

update to 3.01
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update: xpdf-3.01-0.FC3.1
  22nd, August, 2005

update to 3.01
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: libgal2-2.4.3-1.fc4
  22nd, August, 2005

Fix for crash when selecting type of server in Evolution’s account
editor
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update:
  22nd, August, 2005

It probably is not a good idea to push a CVS snapshot here,
but upstream screwed up their 1.4.5 release and CVS contains further fixes
like PHP5 related stuff that might make squirrelmail usable on FC4. This
snapshot worked on my personal server for the past week, so hopefully
it will be good for everyone else too.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update:
  22nd, August, 2005

It probably is not a good idea to push a CVS snapshot here,
but upstream screwed up their 1.4.5 release and CVS contains further fixes
like PHP5 related stuff that might make squirrelmail usable on FC4.
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update: dhcpv6-0.10-14_FC3
  22nd, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: dhcpv6-0.10-14_FC4
  22nd, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update: system-config-netboot-0.1.30-1_FC3
  22nd, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: system-config-netboot-0.1.30-1_FC4
  22nd, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: diskdumputils-1.1.9-2
  22nd, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update: kdebase-3.4.2-0.fc3.3
  23rd, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: bind-9.3.1-10_FC4
  23rd, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: cvs-1.11.19-9
  23rd, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update: cvs-1.11.17-7.FC3
  23rd, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update: hwdata-0.146.1-1
  23rd, August, 2005

This fixes a bug where some MegaRAID controllers were incorrectly
mapped to the megaraid_mbox driver.
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update: eject-2.1.1-0.fc3.2
  24th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: eject-2.1.1-0.fc4.1
  24th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update: pcre-4.5-3.1.1.fc3
  24th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 4 Update: pcre-5.0-4.1.fc4
  24th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
  Fedora Core 3 Update: epiphany-1.4.9-0
  24th, August, 2005

Updated package.
 
   Gentoo
  Gentoo: Kismet Multiple vulnerabilities
  19th, August, 2005

Kismet is vulnerable to multiple issues potentially resulting
in the execution of arbitrary code.
 
  Gentoo: Adobe Reader Buffer Overflow
  19th, August, 2005

Adobe Reader is vulnerable to a buffer overflow which could
potentially lead to execution of arbitrary code.
 
  Gentoo: Evolution Format string vulnerabilities
  23rd, August, 2005

Evolution is vulnerable to format string vulnerabilities which
may result in remote execution of arbitrary code.
 
  Gentoo: PEAR XML-RPC, phpxmlrpc New PHP
script injection
  24th, August, 2005

The PEAR XML-RPC and phpxmlrpc libraries allow remote attackers
to execute arbitrary PHP script commands.
 
  Gentoo: TikiWiki, eGroupWare Arbitrary
command execution
  24th, August, 2005

TikiWiki and eGroupWare both include PHP XML-RPC code vulnerable
to arbitrary command execution.
 
  Gentoo: Apache 2.0 Denial of Service
vulnerability
  25th, August, 2005

A bug in Apache may allow a remote attacker to perform a Denial
of Service attack.
 
  Gentoo: Tor Information disclosure
  25th, August, 2005

A flaw in Tor leads to the disclosure of information and the
loss of anonymity, integrity and confidentiality.
 
   Red
Hat
  RedHat: Low: netpbm security update
  22nd, August, 2005

Updated netpbm packages that fix a security issue are now available.
This update has been rated as having low security impact by the Red Hat
Security Response Team.
 
  RedHat: Low: vim security update
  22nd, August, 2005

Updated vim packages that fix a security issue are now available.
This update has been rated as having low security impact by the Red Hat
Security Response Team.
 
  RedHat: Low: slocate security update
  22nd, August, 2005

An updated slocate package that fixes a denial of service issue
is now available. This update has been rated as having low security impact
by the Red Hat Security Response Team.
 
  RedHat: Critical: elm security update
  23rd, August, 2005

An updated elm package is now available that fixes a buffer
overflow issue for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 AS and AW. This update
has been rated as having critical security impact by the Red Hat Security
Response Team.
 

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