IBM Lotus Domino 7 tunekrnl Multiple Vulnerabilities

iDefense Security Advisory 11.08.06
https://labs.idefense.com/intelligence/vulnerabilities/
Nov 08, 2006

I. BACKGROUND

IBM Lotus Domino is a software suite designed to facilitate collaboration
between co-workers.  More information can be found at
https://www.ibm.com/domino/.

II. DESCRIPTION

Local exploitation of multiple buffer overflow vulnerabilities in IBM's
Lotus Domino could allow an attacker to elevate privileges to root.

The 'tunekrnl' binary is used to set Linux/proc sysctl settings, allowing
Domino to increase the resource limits of the running kernel.  It is
shipped with the owner set to root and the set-user-id bit on.  Since the
length of input is improperly validated when copying to fixed-size
buffers, buffer overflow can occur.

III. ANALYSIS

Exploitation could allow local attackers to elevate their privileges to
that of the 'root' account. On most modern systems, this means that
attackers would gain complete control over the target system.

IV. DETECTION

iDefense has confirmed the existence of this vulnerability in version
7.0.1.1 of IBM's Lotus Domino for Linux. Earlier versions may also be
vulnerable.

V. WORKAROUND

To prevent exploitation, rename or delete the /etc/SuSE-release or
/etc/redhat-release file. The 'tunekrnl' binary's vulnerable code is not
executed if this file does not exist. Also, removing the set-user-id bit
from the 'tunekrnl' binary prevents privilege escalation. However, this may
require running the utility as root manually to increase system resource
limits as needed.

VI. VENDOR RESPONSE

IBM Lotus has addressed this problem within Domino versions 6.5.5 FP2 and
7.0.2.  More information is available in IBM Technote #1249173 at
https://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=475&uid=swg21249173.

VII. CVE INFORMATION

A Mitre Corp. Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) number has not
been assigned yet.

VIII. DISCLOSURE TIMELINE

08/15/2006  Initial vendor notification
08/15/2006  Initial vendor response
11/08/2006  Coordinated public disclosure

IX. CREDIT

This vulnerability was reported to iDefense by Andrew Christensen of
FortConsult ApS.

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X. LEGAL NOTICES

Copyright © 2006 iDefense, Inc.

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Disclaimer: The information in the advisory is believed to be accurate at
the time of publishing based on currently available information. Use of
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