CERT^® Advisory CA-1998-08 Buffer overflows in some POP servers

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

The CERT Coordination Center has received reports of buffer overflows in some Post Office Protocol (POP) servers. For a list of vulnerable versions and platforms, please refer to Appendix A. For help in determining which version you are currently running, see Section III.A below.

The CERT/CC team recommends that anyone running a vulnerable version of this software upgrade to the current vendor-recommended version. Until you can do so, we suggest disabling the POP server.

We will update this advisory as we receive additional information. Please check our advisory files regularly for updates that relate to your site.

I. Description

The CERT Coordination Center has received reports of buffer overflow vulnerabilities in some POP servers based on QUALCOMM's qpopper. Qpopper is a Post Office Protocol (POP) server used for downloading Internet e-mail.

Information about this vulnerability has been posted to various mailing lists and newsgroups, and the CERT Coordination Center has received reports of incidents in which this vulnerability has been exploited to gain privileged access.

II. Impact

Remote users can gain privileged (root) access to systems running vulnerable versions of POP servers.

III. Solution

If you determine that your POP server is vulnerable (Sec. A), install a patch from your vendor. Until you can do so, we urge you to disable the POP server.

Determine if your version of the POP server is vulnerable.

To determine if a system is vulnerable, first telnet to port 110 on that host. If it is running a POP server, the banner will show the version. For example:

               % telnet yourmailhost.your.domain.com 110
               Trying 123.123.123.123
               Connected to mailhost
               +OK QPOP (version 2.4) at yourmailhost.your.domain.com starting

In the above example, the POP server is QUALCOMM's QPopper, version 2.4, which is known to be a vulnerable version.

Check Appendix A to see if your vendor has identified other POP server versions that are vulnerable. If you do not see your vendor's name, please contact the vendor directly.

Install a patch for this problem.

Appendix A contains input from vendors who have provided information for this advisory.

Workaround

If you are unable to upgrade to a version that is not vulnerable, we urge you to disable the POP server until you are able to address the problem. (This will, of course, mean that the functionality provided by the POP server will not be available.)

Appendix A - Vendor Information

Below is a list of the vendors who have provided information for this advisory. We will update this appendix as we receive additional information. If you do not see your vendor's name, the CERT/CC did not hear from that vendor. Please contact the vendor directly.

Data General

Data General does not ship qpopper, or any other POP client or server.

Digital Equipment Corporation

Copyright 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 Compaq Computer Corporation.  All rights
reserved.

SOURCE: Compaq Computer Corporation
        Compaq's Digital UNIX / ULTRIX
        Software Security Response Team USA


    This reported problem is not present for the as shipped,
    Compaq's Digital ULTRIX or Compaq's Digital UNIX
    Operating Systems Software.

Fujitsu

Fujitsu's UXP/V operating system does not support qpopper so we are not
affected by it.

OpenBSD

OpenBSD does not ship qpopper.

QUALCOMM Incorporated

Versions of QUALCOMM qpopper prior to 2.5 are vulnerable.
QUALCOMM recommends upgrading to the most recent version
(currently Version 2.52). Patches are available from

         ftp://ftp.qualcomm.com/Eudora/servers/unix/popper

Further details, questions and comments should be sent to qpopper@qualcomm.com.

Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.

The following releases of SCO Operating Systems contain a version
of the Qualcomm popper that is vulnerable:

- - SCO OpenServer Releases 5.0.0, 5.0.2, 5.0.4
- - SCO Internet FastStart Releases 1.0, 1.1

The following SCO Operating Systems are not vulnerable,

- - SCO UnixWare 7
- - SCO UnixWare 2.1
- - SCO CMW+
- - SCO Open Desktop / Open Server 3.0, SCO UNIX 3.2v4

Binary versions of the patched popper will be available shortly
from the SCO ftp site:

ftp://ftp.sco.com/SSE/sse013.ltr - cover letter
ftp://ftp.sco.com/SSE/sse013.tar.Z - replacement binary

The fix includes binaries for the following SCO operating systems:

- - SCO OpenServer 5.0.0, 5.0.2, 5.0.4
- - SCO Internet FastStart Releases 1.0, 1.1

For the latest security bulletins and patches for SCO products,
please refer to http://www.sco.com/security/ .

Silicon Graphics Inc.

Please refer to Silicon Graphics Inc. Security Advisory, "BSD/Qualcomm qpopper Vulnerability," Number: 19980801-01-I, distributed August 6, 1998 for additional information relating to this vulnerability.

The primary SGI anonymous FTP site for security information and patches is sgigate.sgi.com (204.94.209.1). Security information and patches are located under the directories ~ftp/security and ~ftp/patches, respectively. The Silicon Graphics Security Headquarters Web page is accessible at the URL http://www.sgi.com/Support/security/security.html.

The CERT Coordination Center thanks Travis Mikalson at TerraNovaNet, Inc., for reporting the vulnerability, and Laurence Lundblade at QUALCOMM Incorporated for providing technical details and support in the development of the advisory. We also acknowledge other members of the Internet community who posted about this problem.

CERT/CC Contact Information

Email: cert@cert.org
Phone: +1 412-268-7090 (24-hour hotline)
Fax: +1 412-268-6989
Postal address:

CERT Coordination Center
Software Engineering Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh PA 15213-3890
U.S.A.

CERT/CC personnel answer the hotline 08:00-17:00 EST(GMT-5) / EDT(GMT-4) Monday through Friday; they are on call for emergencies during other hours, on U.S. holidays, and on weekends.

Using encryption

We strongly urge you to encrypt sensitive information sent by email. Our public PGP key is available from

http://www.cert.org/CERT_PGP.key

If you prefer to use DES, please call the CERT hotline for more information.

Getting security information

CERT publications and other security information are available from our web site

http://www.cert.org/

* "CERT" and "CERT Coordination Center" are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

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Any material furnished by Carnegie Mellon University and the Software Engineering Institute is furnished on an "as is" basis. Carnegie Mellon University makes no warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied as to any matter including, but not limited to, warranty of fitness for a particular purpose or merchantability, exclusivity or results obtained from use of the material. Carnegie Mellon University does not make any warranty of any kind with respect to freedom from patent, trademark, or copyright infringement.

Copyright 1998 Carnegie Mellon University.

Aug. 24, 1998  Added vendor information for Silicon Graphics Inc.
July 22, 1998  Updated vendor information for Fujitsu and Santa
               Cruz Operation, Inc.
July 14, 1998  Added vendor information for Digital Equipment Corporation.