Brief Hands-On Report--Apple released Security Update 2007-004

Security Update 2007-004 is available via Software Update for Mac OS X 10.4.9 and 10.3.9 or as a stand-alone file from this Apple Web page. According to Apple,

Security Update 2007-004 is recommended for all users and improves the security of the following components:

AFP Client
AirPort
CarbonCore
diskdev_cmds
fetchmail
ftpd
gnutar
Help Viewer
HID Family
Installer
Kerberos
Libinfo
Login Window
network_cmds
SMB
System Configuration
URLMount
Video Conference
WebDAV

The details of the update are as follows:

AFP ClientCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0729)--Under certain circumstances, AFP Client may execute commands without properly cleaning the environment. This may allow a local user to create files or execute commands with system privileges. This update addresses the issue by cleaning the environment prior to executing commands.Description:

AirPortCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0725)--A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the AirPortDriver module which processes control commands for AirPort. By sending malformed control commands, a local user could trigger the overflow which may lead to arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges. This issue affects eMac, iBook, iMac, PowerBook G3, PowerBook G4, and Power Mac G4 systems equipped with an original AirPort card. This issue does not affect systems with the AirPort Extreme card. This update addresses the issue by performing proper bounds checking.

CarbonCoreCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0732)--The CoreServices daemon could allow a local user to obtain a send right to its Mach task port, which may lead to arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges. This update addresses the issue by through improved checks in the CoreServices interprocess communication. This issue does not affect systems prior to Mac OS X v10.4.Description:

diskdev_cmdsCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0734)--A memory corruption vulnerability exists in fsck. It is possible to cause fsck to be run automatically on a disk image when it is opened. By enticing a user to open a maliciously-crafted disk image, or to run fsck on any maliciously-crafted UFS filesystem, an attacker could trigger the issue which may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. This update addresses the issue by performing additional validation of UFS filesystems.Description:

fetchmailCVE-ID: (CVE-2006-5867)--fetchmail is updated to version 6.3.6 to fix a vulnerability that could allow authentication credentials to be sent in plain text, despite being configured to use TLS. This issue is described on the fetchmail web site at http://fetchmail.berlios.de/fetchmail-SA-2006-02.txtDescription:

ftpdCVE-ID: (CVE-2006-6652)--lukemftpd has been updated to version tnftpd 20061217 to address a buffer overflow vulnerability in the handling of commands with globbing characters that could lead to arbitrary code execution. This issue does not affect Mac OS X Server v10.3.9 or Mac OS X Server v10.4.9. Credit to Kevin Finisterre of DigitalMunition for reporting this issue.

GNU TarCVE-ID: (CVE-2006-0300)--A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the handling of PAX extended headers in GNU tar archives. By enticing a local user to list or extract a maliciously-crafted tar archive, an attacker can trigger the overflow which may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. This issue has been addressed by performing additional validation of tar files. This issue does not affect systems prior to Mac OS X 10.4.Description:

Help ViewerCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0646)--A format string vulnerability exists in the Help Viewer application. By enticing a user to download and open a help file with a maliciously-crafted name, an attacker can trigger the vulnerability which may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. This has been described on the Month of Apple Bugs web site (MOAB-30-01-2007). This update addresses the issue by eliminating any format string processing of file names.Description:

HID FamilyCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0724)--Insufficient controls in the IOKit HID interface allow any logged in user to capture console keystrokes, including passwords and other sensitive information. This update addresses the issue by limiting HID device events to processes belonging to the current console user. Credit to Andrew Garber of University of Victoria, Alex Harper, and Michael Evans for reporting this issue. This fix was originally distributed via the Mac OS X v10.4.9 update. However, due to a packaging issue it may not have been delivered to all systems. This update redistributes this fix in order to reach all affected systems.Description:

InstallerCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0465)--A format string vulnerability exists in the Installer application. By enticing a user to download and install an installer package with a maliciously-crafted file name, an attacker can trigger the vulnerability which may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. This issue has been described on the Month of Apple Bugs web site (MOAB-26-01-2007). This update addresses the issue by eliminating any format string processing of file names. This issue does not affect systems prior to Mac OS X v10.4.Description:

KerberosCVE-ID: (CVE-2006-6143)--An uninitialized function pointer vulnerability exists in the MIT Kerberos administration daemon (kadmind), which may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution with system privileges. Further information on the issue and the patch applied is available via the MIT Kerberos website at http://web.mit.edu/kerberos/advisories/MITKRB5-SA-2006-002-rpc.txt. This issue does not affect systems prior to Mac OS X v10.4. Credit to the MIT Kerberos Team and an anonymous researcher working with iDefense for reporting this issue.Description:

KerberosCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0957)--A stack buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the MIT Kerberos administration daemon (kadmind), as well as the KDC, which may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution with system privileges. Further information on the issue and the patch applied is available via the MIT Kerberos website at http://web.mit.edu/kerberos/advisories/MITKRB5-SA-2007-002-syslog.txt. Credit to the MIT Kerberos Team for reporting this issue.Description:

KerberosCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-1216)--A double-free vulnerability exists in the GSS-API library used by the MIT Kerberos administration daemon (kadmind), which may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution with system privileges. Further information on the issue and the patch applied is available via the MIT Kerberos website at http://web.mit.edu/kerberos/advisories/MITKRB5-SA-2007-003.txt. Credit to the MIT Kerberos Team for reporting this issue.Description:

LibinfoCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0735)--In some cases, Libinfo does not correctly report errors to applications that use it. By enticing a user to visit a maliciously-crafted web page, an attacker can cause a previously deallocated object to be accessed, which may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. This update addresses the issue by performing appropriate error reporting in Libinfo. Credit to Landon Fuller of Three Rings Design for reporting this issue.Description:

LibinfoCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0736)--An integer overflow vulnerability exists in the RPC library. By sending maliciously-crafted requests to the portmap service, a remote attacker can trigger the overflow which may lead to a denial of service or arbitrary code execution as the 'daemon' user. This update addresses the issue by performing additional validation of portmap requests. Credit to the Mu Security Research Team for reporting this issue.Description:

Login WindowCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0737)--Login Window does not sufficiently check its environment variables. This could allow a local user to execute arbitrary code with system privileges. This update addresses the issue by through improved validation of Login Window environment variables.

Login WindowCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0738)--Under certain conditions, the user's preference to "require a password to wake the computer from sleep" is ignored, and a password is not required to wake from sleep. This update addresses the issue by through improved handling of this preference.Description:

Login WindowCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0739)--Under certain conditions, the software update window may appear beneath the Login Window. This could allow a person with physical access to the system to log in without authentication. This update addresses the issue by only running scheduled tasks after the user login. This issue does not affect systems prior to Mac OS X v10.4.Description:

network_cmdsCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0741)--A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the handling of RTSP packets in natd. By sending malformed RTSP packets, a remote attacker may be able to trigger the overflow which may lead to arbitrary code execution. This issue only affects users who have Internet Sharing enabled. This update addresses the issue by performing additional validation of rtsp packets.Description:

SMBCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0744)--Under certain circumstances, SMB may execute commands without properly cleaning the environment. This may allow a local user to create files or execute commands with system privileges. This update addresses the issue by cleaning the environment prior to executing commands.Description:

System ConfigurationCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0022)--Admin users have the ability to alter system preferences through the writeconfig utility. When the writeconfig utility launches the launchctl utility, it does not clean the environment inherited from the user. This could allow arbitrary code execution with system privileges without authentication. This issue has been described on the Month of Apple Bugs web site (MOAB-21-01-2007). This update addresses the issue by cleaning the environment before calling the launchctl utility.Description:

URLMountCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0743)--The username and password used to mount remote filesystems through connections to SMB servers are passed to the mount_smb command as command line arguments, which may expose them to other local users. This update addresses the issue by securely passing the authentication credentials to the mount_smb command. Credit to Daniel Ball of Pittsburgh Technical Institute, Geoff Franks of Hauptman Woodward Medical Research Institute, and Jamie Cox of Sophos Plc for reporting this issue.Description:

VideoConferenceCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0746)--A heap buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the VideoConference framework. By sending a maliciously-crafted SIP packet when initializing an audio/video conference, an attacker can trigger the overflow which may lead to arbitrary code execution. This update addresses the issue by performing additional validation of SIP packets.Description:

WebDAVCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0747)--When mounting a WebDAV filesystem, the load_webdav program may be launched without properly cleaning the environment. This may allow a local user to create files or execute commands with system privileges. This update addresses the issue by cleaning the environment prior to executing commands.Description:

WebFoundationCVE-ID: (CVE-2007-0742)--An implementation issue allows cookies set by subdomains to be accessible to the parent domain, which may lead to the disclosure of sensitive information. This update addresses the issue by performing additional validation of the domain to which a cookie is being sent. This issue does not affect systems running Mac OS X v10.4. Credit to Bradley Schwoerer of University of Wisconsin-Madison for reporting this issue.Description:

We downloaded and installed the update on a number of Macs: Mac mini Core Duo, MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo, iMac Core 2 Duo, iMac Core Duo, Power Mac G4 Cube and PowerBook G4. All installations were completed without a hitch. Our two Core 2 Duo machines and iMac Core Duo double restarted and the rest, including the Mac mini Core Duo, did a normal single restart. All took awhile longer than usual to restart, especially the Intel-based Macs.

After several hours of use, we have not noted any issues. [Bill Fox & Dana Baggett]