Original issue date: August 9, 1993<BR>
Last revised: September 19, 1997<BR>
Attached copyright statement

<P>A complete revision history is at the end of this file.

<P>The CERT Coordination Center has received information concerning
vulnerabilities in versions of the UMN UNIX gopher and gopher+ server and
client available before August 6, 1993.  Vulnerable versions were available on
boombox.micro.umn.edu:/pub/gopher/Unix/gopher1.12s.tar.Z,<BR>
boombox.micro.umn.edu:/pub/gopher/Unix/gopher2.03.tar.Z, and many other
anonymous FTP sites mirroring these software versions.

<P>We strongly recommend that any site using versions of UMN UNIX gopher
and gopher+ dated prior to August 6, 1993 (including version 1.12, 1.12s,
2.0+, 2.03, and all earlier versions) immediately take corrective action.

<P>If you have further questions regarding UMN UNIX gopher or gopher+ software, 
send e-mail to: 
	<A HREF=mailto:gopher@boombox.micro.umn.edu>gopher@boombox.micro.umn.edu</A> 

<P><HR>

<P>
<H2>I. Description</H2>

<P>Several vulnerabilities have been identified in UMN UNIX gopher and 
gopher+ when configured as a server or public access client.

<P>Intruders are known to have exploited these vulnerabilities to obtain 
password files.  Other actions may also have been taken by intruders
exploiting these vulnerabilities.  CERT has already contacted those
sites currently known to have been victims of these activities. However, 
sites may want to check for weak passwords, or consider changing 
passwords, after installing the new gopher software.

<P>
<H2>II. Impact</H2>

<P>Anyone (remote or local) can potentially gain unrestricted access 
to the account running the public access client, thereby permitting 
them to read any files accessible to this account (possibly including 
/etc/passwd or other sensitive files).

<P>In certain configurations, anyone (remote or local) can potentially
gain access to any account, including root, on a host configured as a
server running gopherd.

<P>
<H2>III. Solution </H2>

<P>Affected sites should consider disabling gopherd service and public gopher
logins until they have installed the new software.

<P>New versions of the UMN UNIX gopher and gopher+ software have been 
released that provide bug fixes and correct these security problems.  
Sites can obtain these new versions via anonymous FTP from 
boombox.micro.umn.edu (134.84.132.2). The files are located in:

<P><PRE>
     Filename                                Size     Checksum
     --------                                ------   -----------
     Gopher:
     /pub/gopher/Unix/gopher1.12S.tar.Z      306872   46311   300
     Gopher+:
     /pub/gopher/Unix/gopher2.04.tar.Z       294872   29411   288
</PRE>

<P><HR>
The CERT Coordination Center wishes to thank Matt Schroth, Williams College, 
and others for informing us of these vulnerabilities.  We would also like to 
thank Paul Lindner, University of Minnesota, for his quick response to these 
problems.

<!--#include virtual="/include/footer_nocopyright.html" -->
<P>Copyright 1993 Carnegie Mellon University.</P>

<HR>

Revision History
<PRE>
September 19,1997  Attached Copyright Statement
</PRE>