CHOWN Path Environment Variable Vulnerability For additional details, the official advisories from Oracle Corporation can be downloaded from: http://otn.oracle.com/deploy/security/pdf/dbsmp_alert.pdf Summary: The vulnerability only affects Oracle 8.0.5 and 8.1.5. The dbsnmp file executes the CHOWN and CHGRP commands on several files. It references these files without fully-qualifying the path. This allows an attacker to set the PATH environment variable to run the CHOWN and CHGRP commands on the attacker's version of the files. This vulnerability can result in an attacker gaining root access if the dbsnmp is setuid root. Fix: Remove the setuid bit from the file (chmod -s dbsnmp) or upgrade the database to Oracle release 8.1.6 or higher. It does not appear that Oracle will be releasing a patch for this vulnerability. Background: This vulnerability is based on the Oracle Enterprise Manager Intelligent Agent. This issue exists because the executable file for this process, dbsnmp, runs with the setuid bit enabled. That means this problems ONLY EXIST ON UNIX (OR LINUX) VERSIONS OF ORACLE. If you are not using the Intelligent Agent, you should remove the setuid bit from this process. You can also avoid this issue by restricting access to the Oracle operating system files. Only database administrators should have access to these files. The Oracle Intelligent Agent performs the following functions: -Provides local services or calling operating system dependent services to interact locally with the managed targets. -Checks for events, and queuing the resulting event reports for Oracle Enterprise Manager. -Runs Oracle Enterprise Manager jobs, collecting their results and output, and/or queuing the results as required. -Cancels jobs or events as directed by the Console or other applications. -Handles requests to send SNMP traps for events if SNMP is supported on the Intelligent Agent's platform. Thank you, support@appsecinc.com Application Security, Inc. phone: 212-490-6022 -Protection Where It Counts- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Application Security, Inc. www.appsecinc.com As pioneers in application security, we are an organization dedicated to the security, defense, and protection of one of the most commonly overlooked areas of security — the application layer. Application Security, Inc. provides solutions to proactively secure (penetration testing/vulnerability assessment), actively defend/monitor (intrusion detection), and protect (encryption) your most critical applications. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from this list, send an email to unsubscribe@appsecinc.com with the word "unsubscribe oracle" in the subject list. ----------------------------------------------------------------------
