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                                    CERT-Renater

                         Note d'Information No. 2006/VULN287
_____________________________________________________________________

DATE                      : 01/06/2006

HARDWARE PLATFORM(S)      : IBM.

OPERATING SYSTEM(S)       : AIX 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3.

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IBM SECURITY ADVISORY


First Issued:  Fri May 26 15:45:51 CDT 2006

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                            VULNERABILITY SUMMARY

VULNERABILITY:      A vulnerability in lsmcode may allow local
                     users to execute arbitrary code with root
                     privileges.

PLATFORMS:          AIX 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3.

SOLUTION:           Apply the APAR, interim fix or workaround as
                     described below.

THREAT:             A local user may execute arbitrary code as root.

CERT VU Number:     n/a
CVE Number:         n/a
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                            DETAILED INFORMATION


I.  Description
===============

A vulnerability was discovered in the lsmcode command that may allow a
local attacker to execute arbitrary code as the root user. The lsmcode
command is used to display microcode and firmware levels of system
adapters and devices.


lsmcode ships as part of the bos.diag.util fileset.


II. Impact
==========

A local user may execute arbitrary code as the root user.


III.  Solutions
===============

A. Official Fix

IBM provides the following fixes:


       APAR number for AIX 5.1.0:  IY85518 (available approx. 7/19/06)
       APAR number for AIX 5.2.0:  IY88524 (available approx. 8/23/06)
       APAR number for AIX 5.3.0:  IY85517 (available approx. 8/23/06)

NOTE: Affected customers are urged to upgrade to the latest applicable
Technology Level.

B. Interim Fix

Interm fixes will be available within the coming week. When available, the
ifixes can be downloaded via ftp from aix.software.ibm.com .



C. Workaround

Remove Non-Root Permissions
+----------------
To prevent non-root users from running the command

# chmod 500 /usr/sbin/lsmcode

These permissions will only allow the root user to run lsmcode.


IV. Obtaining Fixes
===================

AIX Version 5 APARs can be downloaded from:

      http://www.ibm.com/servers/eserver/support/unixservers/aixfixes.html

Security related Interim Fixes can be downloaded from:

      ftp://aix.software.ibm.com/aix/efixes/security


V.  Contact Information
=======================

If you would like to receive AIX Security Advisories via email, please
visit:

      http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/subscriptions/pqvcmjd

Comments regarding the content of this announcement can be directed to:

      security-alert@austin.ibm.com

To request the PGP public key that can be used to communicate securely
with the AIX Security Team send email to security-alert@austin.ibm.com
with a subject of "get key". The key can also be downloaded from a PGP
Public Key Server. The key id is 0x9391C1F2.

Please contact your local IBM AIX support center for any assistance.

eServer is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.
IBM, AIX and pSeries are registered trademarks of International Business
Machines Corporation. All other trademarks are property of their respective
holders.

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