Mandrake Linux Security Advisory : openssh (MDKSA-2002:040-1)

critical Nessus Plugin ID 13944

Synopsis

The remote Mandrake Linux host is missing one or more security updates.

Description

An input validation error exists in the OpenSSH server between versions 2.3.1 and 3.3 that can result in an integer overflow and privilege escalation. This error is found in the PAMAuthenticationViaKbdInt code in versions 2.3.1 to 3.3, and the ChallengeResponseAuthentication code in versions 2.9.9 to 3.3. OpenSSH 3.4 and later are not affected, and OpenSSH 3.2 and later prevent privilege escalation if UsePrivilegeSeparation is enabled; in OpenSSH 3.3 and higher this is the default behaviour of OpenSSH.

To protect yourself, users should be using OpenSSH 3.3 with UsePrivilegeSeparation enabled (see MDKSA:2002-040). However, it is highly recommended that all Mandrake Linux users upgrade to version 3.4 which corrects these errors.

There are a few caveats with this upgrade, however, that users should be aware of :

- On Linux kernel 2.2 (the default for Mandrake Linux 7.x), the use of Compression and UsePrivilegeSeparation are mutually exclusive. You can use one feature or the other, not both; we recommend disabling Compression and using privsep until this can be resolved.

- Using privsep may cause some PAM modules which expect to run with root privilege to fail. For instance, users will not be able to change their password if they attempt to log into an account with an expired password.

If you absolutely must use one of these features that conflict with privsep, you can disable it in /etc/ssh/sshd_config by using :

UsePrivilegeSeparation no

However, if you do this, be sure you are running OpenSSH 3.4. Updates to OpenSSH will be made available once these problems are resolved.

Solution

Update the affected packages.

Plugin Details

Severity: Critical

ID: 13944

File Name: mandrake_MDKSA-2002-040.nasl

Version: 1.21

Type: local

Family: Mandriva Local Security Checks

Published: 7/31/2004

Updated: 1/6/2021

Supported Sensors: Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 6.7

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Critical

Base Score: 10

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:openssh, p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:openssh-askpass, p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:openssh-askpass-gnome, p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:openssh-clients, p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:openssh-server, cpe:/o:mandrakesoft:mandrake_linux:7.1, cpe:/o:mandrakesoft:mandrake_linux:7.2, cpe:/o:mandrakesoft:mandrake_linux:8.0, cpe:/o:mandrakesoft:mandrake_linux:8.1, cpe:/o:mandrakesoft:mandrake_linux:8.2

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/cpu, Host/Mandrake/release, Host/Mandrake/rpm-list

Patch Publication Date: 7/2/2002

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2002-0639, CVE-2002-0640

MDKSA: 2002:040-1

Detections

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