Last revised: September 17, 1997
Attached Copyright Statement
A complete revision history is at the end of this file.
The CERT/CC has received a report of a security vulnerability which exists under specific conditions in Digital VMS Software (Versions 4.0 to 5.4). The DESCRIPTION, IMPACT, SOLUTION, and CONTACT INFORMATION sections below have been provided to the CERT/CC by the Digital Equipment Corporation.
I. Description
Non-privileged users can acquire system privileges through the ANALYZE/PROCESS_DUMP routine.II. Impact
Non-privileged users who gain increased privileges might deliberately or inadvertently affect the integrity of system information and/or affect the integrity of the computing resource.III. Solution
Digital is currently working on a permanent solution to this problem. While a permanent fix is being completed, Digital recommends that the following actions be taken on every VMS system (this includes all nodes in a VAXcluster system).After taking the following actions, non-privileged users will not be able to use the ANALYZE/PROCESS_DUMP command.
- Log into the system account.
- $ SET PROC/PRIV=ALL
- a) For VMS versions prior to V5.0,
- $ MCR INSTALL ANALIMDMP/DELETE
- (Optional) Restart your systems and verify that the image is not installed using the following command:
Modify SYS$MANAGER:SYSTARTUP.COM to include the following lines:
$ SET NOON
$ MCR INSTALL ANALIMDMP.EXE/DELETE
as the first two commands in this file.
b) For VMS versions V5.0 and later,
Modify SYS$MANAGER:SYSTARTUP_V5.COM to include the following lines:
$ SET NOON
$ MCR INSTALL ANALIMDMP.EXE/DELETE
as the first two commands in this file.
c) For MicroVMS systems,
The image ANALIMDMP.EXE is not installed by default, but SYSTARTUP.COM contains a suggestion for installing the image if you have multiple users on your system. You must ensure that this image is not installed by SYSTARTUP.COM. You can use the following command to verify that the image is not installed:
$ MCR INSTALL ANALIMDMP/LIST
This command removes the installed image from the active system.
$ MCR INSTALL ANALIMDMP/LIST
You should receive a message similar to the following:
%INSTALL-W-FAIL, failed to LIST entry for ANALIMDMP.EXE
-INSTALL-E-NOKFEFND, Known File Entry not found
For further questions, please contact your Digital Customer Support Center.
The CERT/CC thanks Digital for the information above, and thanks Clive Walmsley, Royal Signal and Radar Establishment, Malvern England, for reporting this problem to CERT/CC.
Copyright 1990 Carnegie Mellon University.
Revision History
September 17,1997 Attached Copyright Statement