Security update for Apache and mod_ssl

Knowledgebase

(Last modified: 30JUL2002)

solutions Security update for Apache and mod_ssl SuSE Linux Maintenance Web (027e762bfb256384aaad29ed94b3ab83)

Applies to

Product(s): SuSE Linux Database Server
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7 for IBM zSeries
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7 for PowerPC
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7 for IA32
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7 for IA64
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7 for S/390 and zSeries
SuSE eMail Server 3.1
SuSE Linux Office Server
SuSE Linux Connectivity Server

Package: apache
mod_ssl
Release: 20020730
Obsoletes: none

Indications

This is a maintenance release plus security fix. Everyone should install this
update.

Problem description

This is a comprehensive update for apache and its dependent packages to improve the package dependency handling.
In addition to these improvements, a security problem with mod_ssl has been fixed. When parsing ssl-specific options in .htaccess files, mod_ssl can overflow a buffer with a single byte. A local attacker may exploit this vulnerability to cause the apache webserver child instance to crash, resulting in a restart of another instance triggered by the main daemon. This would cause a minor resource overhead on the machine running the apache webserver. Please note that this vulnerability is only present if your apache webserver is configured to provide ssl enabled http service, and if directives given in apache's main configuration file can be overridden by directives in .htaccess files (which is disrecommended in general).
It is yet unclear if this vulnerability can be exploited to gain unauthorized access to the webserver (by a local attacker).

Solution

Please install the updates provided at the location noted below.

Installation notes

This update is provided as an RPM package that can easily be installed onto a running system by using this command:


rpm --nodeps -Uvh apache.rpm mod_ssl.rpm

After performing the update of the RPM packages, please restart the apache webserver using the command


rcapache restart

for the update packages to take effect.

links to download packages

Download Source Packages

Download the source code of the patches for maintained products.

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