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nai_28_chpass.txt
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Vulnerability in OpenBSD 2.3 chpass(1)
Network Associates, Inc.
Security Advisory #26 <----- it's actually 28 (jwk)
August 3, 1998
SYNOPSIS
Due to an implementation problem involving file descriptor leakage across
processes, it is possible to exploit the "chpass" command to gain superuser
privileges on OpenBSD 2.3.
AFFECTED SYSTEMS
This vulnerability has been confirmed against OpenBSD 2.3 (and below). No other
operating systems are currently known to be vulnerable to this problem.
DETAILS
The "chpass" command allows unprivileged users to edit database information
associated with their account. Chpass assembles a collection of information that
can be edited in a file, allows the user to modify it with the editor of their
choice, and then commits the modified information back to the password database.
Chpass is an SUID program. It functions by creating a temporary copy of the
password database, spawning an editor to display and modify user account
information, and then committing the information into the temporary password
file copy, which is then used to rebuild the password database.
In OpenBSD 2.3, an implementation flaw causes the temporary password file copy
to become accessible to the spawned editor process and its children. An attacker
can use this access to modify the information in the temporary copy. The tainted
copy is used to rebuild the password database, allowing the attacker to modify
"root"'s account information and gain superuser access.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
This problem exists due to file descriptor leakage between the "chpass" program,
which is a security-critical SUID program, and the user's editor program.
Because the file descriptor corresponding to the temporary password file copy is
not closed after the editor is executed, the editor program (and its
descendants) have write access to it.
Unix programs spawn other programs by executing two system calls, fork() and
execve(). The fork() system call creates a copy of the calling process, and the
execve() call loads and runs an executable program into the new process. Because
fork()'d copies of process maintain all the open file descriptors of their
parents, care must be taken to ensure that sensitive files are closed before
programs are executed in them.
To simplify the task of ensuring that file descriptors aren't leaked to
descendant processes, Unix systems support the "close-on-exec" flag, which, when
applied to a file descriptor, forces the operating system to close the
descriptor when the execve() system call is executed. OpenBSD 2.3 does not
utilize this functionality to safeguard the password file copy.
The password file copy is not meant to be written to before the user's editor
closes. After the user is finished editing their account information, the
original password file is copied over into the temporary file, overwriting its
contents. Thus, attackers cannot simply write information into the temporary
file with shell commands.
There are two simple ways to work around this problem. First, an attacker can
write a program which continually writes information to the beginning of the
temporary file, overwriting the information copied in from the original password
file. Secondly, an attacker can write information past the end of the original
password file, allowing new accounts (with superuser privileges) to be created.
RESOLUTION
This problem has been resolved in OpenBSD-current, and a source code patch is
available at the OpenBSD website at:
ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/patches/2.3/common/chpass.patch
The OpenBSD patch applies the close-on-exec flag to files opened by chpass(),
preventing them from being accessible to the user's editor.
CREDITS
Documentation and testing of this problem was conducted by Oliver Friedrichs at
the security labs of Network Associates. Thanks to Theo de Raadt and the OpenBSD
project for prompt attention to this problem.
ABOUT THE NETWORK ASSOCIATES SECURITY LABS
The Security Labs at Network Associates hosts some of the most important
research in computer security today. With over 25 published security advisories
published in the last 2 years, the Network Associates security auditing teams
have been responsible for the discovery of many of the Internet's most serious
security flaws. This advisory represents our ongoing commitment to provide
critical information to the security community.
For more information about the Security Labs at Network Associates, see our
website at www.nai.com or contact us at [email protected].
The Security Labs at Network Associates are a participating member of FIRST, the
Forum for Incident Response Teams. For more information about FIRST, see
www.first.org.
ABOUT OPENBSD
OpenBSD is one of the industry's most secure operating systems. Based on the
widely used and respected 4.4BSD Unix platform, OpenBSD is freely available and
supports 9 different hardware platforms, including Intel i386 and DEC Alpha
architectures. The security labs at Network Associates have been involved with
OpenBSD's ongoing security audit, a ground-breaking computer security effort,
since its inception.
More information about OpenBSD can be obtained at the OpenBSD website, at
www.openbsd.org.