Red Hat, Inc. Security Advisory
Package initscripts

Synopsis new initscripts packages available (/tmp race)

Advisory ID RHSA-1999:052-04

Issue Date 1999-11-08

Updated on 1999-11-30

Keywords lang.csh resolv.conf CHAP ppp- watch

Cross References

Revision History:
1999-11-30: Update to fix a networking bug introduced in 4.67-1.

1999-11-23: Update to fix a typo in the system font setting in rc.sysinit introduced in 4.67-1.

1999-11-22: Update to fix several functionality bugs. No new security bugs were found. (initscripts-4.67)

Note: only the new bugs apply to the Sparc release, so this is a security update for the Intel platform only.

1. Topic:
One security bug and several functionality bugs have been fixed in a new release of initscripts.

2. Problem description:
A /tmp race existed in /etc/profile.d/lang.csh. Users who had csh/tcsh as their login shell could be vulnerable to having arbitrary shell code run by their shell on login.

On PPP connections, CHAP authentication did not always work. New DNS entries were not always correctly added to the /etc/resolv.conf file. Also, there was a theoretical chance that random processes could be sent signals by ppp-watch, though no outside process could affect which processes would be signaled, and in every known case the signals are sent to impossible process ids and therefore have no effect.

Other various bugs present in the initscripts that shipped with Red Hat Linux 6.1 are fixed, including:

  • linuxconf-created IP aliases did not work
  • linuxconf-created static routes may not work
  • path to ipx_interface was incorrect
  • /sbin/service did not work
  • incompatibility with devfs
  • inability to shut down cleanly with quotas
  • any user could force 'interactive' startup on next reboot

1999-11-22: More bugs fixed, including

  • pppd default route problem
  • more possible CHAP authentication bugs (with older PPP configurations)
  • netcfg and linuxconf could fail to bring up PPP connections
  • in failure cases, pppd error messages could fill logs
  • some device alias configurations were not properly initialized
1999-11-23: One bug fix.
  • We apologize for the typo in rc.sysinit. Those responsible have been sacked.
1999-11-30: More bugs fixed, including
  • We apologize again for the duplicate default routes. Those responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked have been sacked.
  • fixed loading of sound mixer settings
  • fixed boot-time logging

It is recommended that users of Red Hat Linux 6.1 update to the fixed packages.

3. Bug IDs fixed: (see bugzilla for more information)
Security problem in lang.csh: 6645
Missing DNS entries: 6664, 6649
CHAP: 6664, 6646, 6506, 6586
Linuxconf issues: 5784, 5976, 6039, 6069, 6162, 6777
PPP default route: 7142, 7000
PPP log filling: 7046, 7000
Device aliases: 6863, 6777, 6162, 6069
Typo in rc.sysinit: 7270
Sound mixer settings: 7159, 7366, 7418, 7420
Erroneous settings of default routes: 7319, 7320, 7333, 7345, 7350, 7355, 7365, 7386, 7392, 7411, 7440
Others: 5646, 5959, 6252, 6286, 6300, 6301, 6527, 7159, 7158, 7156, 7018, 6949, 6857, 6828, 6588, 6527

4. Relevant releases/architectures:
Red Hat Linux 6.1, Intel, Sparc

5. Obsoleted by:
None

6. Conflicts with:
None

7. RPMs required:

Intel:

initscripts-4.70-1.i386.rpm

SPARC:

initscripts-4.70-1.sparc.rpm

Source:

initscripts-4.70-1.src.rpm

8. Solution:
For each RPM for your particular architecture, run:

rpm -Uvh filename

where filename is the name of the RPM.

9. Verification:


 MD5 sum                           Package Name

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
44190a9a34298d590529b0385111d3d6  i386/initscripts-4.70-1.i386.rpm
257fa5ae56d10113a83520045f6cbd47  sparc/initscripts-4.70-1.sparc.rpm
589280ce8452996c5338c155c1828872  SRPMS/initscripts-4.70-1.src.rpm

 
These packages are GPG signed by Red Hat, Inc. for security. Our key is available at:

You can verify each package with the following command: rpm --checksig filename

If you only wish to verify that each package has not been corrupted or tampered with, examine only the md5sum with the following command: rpm --checksig --nogpg filename

Note that you need RPM >= 3.0 to check GnuPG keys.

10. References:

RH6.0: initscripts (RHSA-1999:052-04)

One security bug and several functionality bugs have been fixed in a new release of initscripts.

Summary



Summary

A /tmp race existed in /etc/profile.d/lang.csh. Users who hadcsh/tcsh as their login shell could be vulnerable to havingarbitrary shell code run by their shell on login.

On PPP connections, CHAP authentication did not always work. New DNSentries were not always correctly added to the /etc/resolv.conf file.Also, there was a theoretical chance that random processes could besent signals by ppp-watch, though no outside process could affectwhich processes would be signaled, and in every known case the signalsare sent to impossible process ids and therefore have no effect.

Other various bugs present in the initscripts that shipped withRed Hat Linux 6.1 are fixed, including:

  • linuxconf-created IP aliases did not work
  • linuxconf-created static routes may not work
  • path to ipx_interface was incorrect
  • /sbin/service did not work
  • incompatibility with devfs
  • inability to shut down cleanly with quotas
  • any user could force 'interactive' startup on next reboot

1999-11-22: More bugs fixed, including

  • pppd default route problem
  • more possible CHAP authentication bugs (with older PPP configurations)
  • netcfg and linuxconf could fail to bring up PPP connections
  • in failure cases, pppd error messages could fill logs
  • some device alias configurations were not properly initialized
1999-11-23: One bug fix.
  • We apologize for the typo in rc.sysinit. Those responsible have been sacked.
1999-11-30: More bugs fixed, including
  • We apologize again for the duplicate default routes. Those responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked have been sacked.
  • fixed loading of sound mixer settings
  • fixed boot-time logging

It is recommended that users of Red Hat Linux 6.1 updateto the fixed packages.

3. Bug IDs fixed: (see bugzilla for more information)
Security problem in lang.csh: 6645
Missing DNS entries: 6664, 6649
CHAP: 6664, 6646, 6506, 6586
Linuxconf issues: 5784, 5976, 6039, 6069, 6162, 6777
PPP default route: 7142, 7000
PPP log filling: 7046, 7000
Device aliases: 6863, 6777, 6162, 6069
Typo in rc.sysinit: 7270
Sound mixer settings: 7159, 7366, 7418, 7420
Erroneous settings of default routes: 7319, 7320, 7333, 7345, 7350, 7355, 7365, 7386, 7392, 7411, 7440
Others: 5646, 5959, 6252, 6286, 6300, 6301, 6527, 7159, 7158, 7156, 7018, 6949, 6857, 6828, 6588, 6527


Solution



For each RPM for your particular architecture, run:


rpm -Uvh filename


where filename is the name of the RPM.

9. Verification:


MD5 sum Package Name
44190a9a34298d590529b0385111d3d6 i386/initscripts-4.70-1.i386.rpm 257fa5ae56d10113a83520045f6cbd47 sparc/initscripts-4.70-1.sparc.rpm 589280ce8452996c5338c155c1828872 SRPMS/initscripts-4.70-1.src.rpm



These packages are GPG signed by Red Hat, Inc. for security. Our key is available at:

You can verify each package with the following command: rpm --checksig filename

If you only wish to verify that each package has not been corrupted or tampered with, examine only the md5sum with the following command: rpm --checksig --nogpg filename

Note that you need RPM >= 3.0 to check GnuPG keys.








References


 

Package List


Severity

Topic


Topic

One security bug and several functionality bugs have been fixed in a

new release of initscripts.


 

Relevant Releases Architectures

Red Hat Linux 6.1, Intel, Sparc

5. Obsoleted by:

None

6. Conflicts with:

None

7. RPMs required:

Intel:

initscripts-4.70-1.i386.rpm

SPARC:

initscripts-4.70-1.sparc.rpm

Source:

initscripts-4.70-1.src.rpm


Bugs Fixed


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