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Security update for openssh

Knowledgebase

(Last modified: 18SEP2003)


solutions Security update for openssh SuSE Linux Maintenance Web (c96e9e3f3a124a18ba49c393308ad911)

Applies to

Product(s): SuSE eMail Server 3.1
SuSE eMail Server III
SuSE Firewall Adminhost VPN
SuSE Linux Admin-CD for Firewall
SuSE Firewall on CD 2 - VPN
SuSE Firewall on CD 2
SuSE Linux Connectivity Server
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7 for IA32
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7 for IA64
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7 for PowerPC
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7 for S/390 and zSeries
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7 for IBM zSeries
SuSE Linux Desktop 1.0
SuSE Linux Standard Server 8
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for x86
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for IPF
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for IBM iSeries and IBM pSeries
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for IBM S/390 and IBM zSeries
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for IBM zSeries
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for AMD64
SuSE Linux Office Server
SuSE Linux Openexchange Server 4

Package: openssh
Release: 20030918
Obsoletes: none

Indications

This update should be installed on all systems that have a running ssh
daemon (this is the default).

Problem description

openssh is the most widely used implementation of the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol family. ssh provides an easy to use facility for encrypted remote shell login, TCP-connection- and X11-connection forwarding and is designed to substitute the BSD-style R-protocols (rlogin, rsh).
The package is installed on most SuSE products, and the ssh daemon (sshd, the ssh server) is activated by default on most SuSE systems to allow for secure remote administration of a system.
A patch for the openssh package has been released on Sep 16 2003, fixing the errors known as the buffer_append_space() bug. This patch is a re-release, augmented by another set of bugfixes that have been issued officially by the openssh developers in the meanwhile, known as buffer.c/channels.c bugs.
The errors found may allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the system running the sshd ssh server. SuSE Security currently assumes that the second sequence of bugs is remotely exploitable. To properly identify, track and verify the bugs, these bugs have been assigned the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project names CAN-2003-0693, CAN-2003-0695 and CAN-2003-0682. The latter is considered a precautious security addition.
In addition to the fix for the buffer_append_space() bug, this update turns off the Privilege Separation feature (See the option UsePrivilegeSeparation in the sshd global configuration file /etc/ssh/sshd_config). The feature was to blame for various incosistencies in PAM authentication mechanisms and features that are incompatible with the Privilege Separation feature. If you have modified the sshd_config file that comes with the package, your configuration will not get overwritten by the update package.
It is highly recommended to install this update package on all systems that have an openssh daemon (sshd) running.
After performing the update, it is necessary to restart the sshd secure shell daemon. To do this, run the following command as root:
rcsshd restart
Already running instances with established (legitimate) ssh connections should not be influenced and should continue to run.

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 -Uvh openssh.rpm
For the openssh update package to become effective, run the command
rcsshd restart
as root.

links to download packages

Download Source Packages

Download the source code of the patches for maintained products.


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