Brief Hands-On Report--Apple Security Update 2005-008

Apple released a new security update yesterday for Mac OS X 10.3.9 and 10.4.2, client and server. The appropriate version is available via the Software Update preference pane or as a standalone updater from this Apple Web page. According to the Read Me files for Mac OS X 10.3.9 and 10.4.2,

About Security Update 2005-008 (Mac OS X 10.3.9)

Delivers a number of security enhancements and is recommended for all Macintosh users.

This update includes the following components:

LibSystem
LoginWindow
Mail
QuickDraw
QuickTimeJava
Safari
SecurityAgent
SecurityServer

About Security Update 2005-008 (Mac OS X 10.4.2)

Security Update 2005-008 delivers a number of security enhancements and is recommended for all Macintosh users.

This update includes the following components:

ImageIO
LibSystem
Mail
QuickDraw
Ruby
SecurityAgent
securityd

Here are the details:

ImageIO--CVE-ID: CAN-2005-2747
Available for: Mac OS X v10.4.2, Mac OS X Server v10.4.2
Impact: Viewing a maliciously-crafted GIF image may result in
arbitrary code execution.
Description: By carefully crafting a corrupt GIF image, an attacker
can trigger a buffer overflow in ImageIO which may result in
arbitrary code execution. Several components of Mac OS X utilize
ImageIO including WebCore and Safari. This update addresses the issue
by performing additional validation of images.

Mail--CVE-ID: CAN-2005-2746
Available for: Mac OS X v10.3.9, Mac OS X Server v10.3.9, Mac OS X
v10.4.2, Mac OS X Server v10.4.2
Impact: When using auto-reply rules, Mail.app may expose the contents
of encrypted messages.
Description: Mail.app includes the contents of messages when
processing auto-reply rules. If a message being processed was
encrypted, the automatically generated response will include the
decrypted message contents. This could allow an attacker to intercept
the message. This update addresses the issue by ensuring that
unencrypted responses to encrypted messages are not generated. Credit
to Norbert Rittel of Rittel Consulting for reporting this issue.

Mail--CVE-ID: CAN-2005-2745
Available for: Mac OS X v10.3.9, Mac OS X Server v10.3.9
Impact: Using Kerberos Version 5 for SMTP authentication Mail.app may
disclose sensitive information.
Description: When using SMTP authentication with Kerberos Version 5,
Mail.app may append un-initialized memory to a message. This update
addresses the issue by updating Mail.app. Credit to the MIT Kerberos
team for reporting this issue. This issue was resolved in Mac OS X
v10.4.2 by Security Update 2005-007.

malloc--CVE-ID: CAN-2005-2748
Available for: Mac OS X v10.3.9, Mac OS X Server v10.3.9, Mac OS X
v10.4.2, Mac OS X Server v10.4.2
Impact: Insecure file handling may result in local privilege
escalation.
Description: When certain environmental variables are set to enable
debugging of application memory allocation, files with diagnostic
information are created insecurely. This could allow a malicious
local user to alter arbitrary files. This update addresses the issue
by disallowing malloc debugging in privileged programs. Credit to
Ilja van Sprundel of Suresec LTD for reporting this issue.

QuickDraw Manager--CVE-ID: CAN-2005-2744
Available for: Mac OS X v10.3.9, Mac OS X Server v10.3.9, Mac OS X
v10.4.2, Mac OS X Server v10.4.2
Impact: Viewing a maliciously-crafted PICT image may result in
arbitrary code execution.
Description: By carefully crafting a corrupt PICT image, an attacker
can trigger a buffer overflow in QuickDraw Manager which may result
in arbitrary code execution. Several components of Mac OS X utilize
QuickDraw Manager, including Safari, Mail, and Finder. This update
addresses the issue by performing additional validation of images.
Credit to Henrik Dalgaard of Echo One for reporting this issue.

QuickTime for Java--CVE-ID: CAN-2005-2743
Available for: Mac OS X v10.3.9, Mac OS X Server v10.3.9
Impact: An untrusted applet may gain elevated privileges.
Description: The Java extensions bundled with QuickTime 6.52 and
earlier allow untrusted applets to call arbitrary functions from
system libraries. This update addresses the issue by limiting these
calls to trusted applets. Systems running QuickTime 7 or later are
not affected by this issue. Systems running Mac OS X v10.4 or later
are also not affected by this issue. Credit to Dino Dai Zovi for
reporting this issue.

Ruby--CVE-ID: CAN-2005-1992
Available for: Mac OS X v10.4.2, Mac OS X Server v10.4.2
Impact: Ruby applications utilizing the xmlrpc module may be
vulnerable to arbitrary code execution.
Description: The Ruby xmlrpc/utils module utilizes the method
Module#public_instance_methods to determine which methods may be
invoked remotely using XML-RPC. A change between different versions
of Ruby caused this method list to unintentionally include methods
that may be used to execute arbitrary Ruby code. This update
addresses the issue by updating the xmlrpc/utils module. This issue
does not affect systems prior to Mac OS X v10.4.

Safari--CVE-ID: CAN-2005-2524
Available for: Mac OS X v10.3.9, Mac OS X Server v10.3.9
Impact: Maliciously crafted web archives could potentially allow
cross-site scripting.
Description: It is possible to view web archives served from remote
sites in Safari. Maliciously crafted web archives may be rendered as
content from sites they did not server them. This update prevents
remote web archives from being loaded. Safari web archives were
introduced in Safari 2.0. This issue was resolved in Mac OS X v10.4.2
by Security Update 2005-007.

SecurityAgent--CVE-ID: CAN-2005-2742
Available for: Mac OS X v10.4.2, Mac OS X Server v10.4.2
Impact: A user with physical access to the system may be able to
bypass the "Require password to wake this computer from sleep or
screen saver" setting.
Description: Under certain situations, the "Switch User..." button
may appear even though the "Enable fast user switching" setting is
disabled. This could cause the currently logged-in user's desktop to
be displayed without authentication. This update prevents the "Switch
User..." button from appearing when inappropriate. This issue does
not affect systems prior to Mac OS X v10.4. Credit to Luke Fowler of
the Indiana University Global Research Network Operations Center for
reporting this issue.

securityd--CVE-ID: CAN-2005-2741
Available for: Mac OS X v10.3.9, Mac OS X Server v10.3.9, Mac OS X
v10.4.2, Mac OS X Server v10.4.2
Impact: Malicious users may grant themselves rights to manipulate
arbitrary files or perform other privileged actions.
Description: Authorization Services allows unprivileged users to
grant certain rights that should be restricted to administrators,
which may lead to privilege escalation. This update addresses the
issue by adding restrictions to which rights unprivileged users can
grant themselves.

Also included in this update are enhancements to LoginWindow for
improved interaction with Parental Controls (Mac OS X v10.3.9),
X509Anchors to include the Wells Fargo root certificate (Mac OS X
v10.3.9), and Safe Download Validation to include Web Archives (Mac
OS X v10.4.2).

We downloaded Security Update 2005-0008 via the Software Update preference pane and installed it on a number of Power Mac G5s and Cube G4s, iMac G5s and PowerBook G4s with no problem. Several hours of running it revealed no problems on our Macs. [Bill Fox & Dana Baggett]