dbus security update (RHSA-2010-0018)

Original Release Date: January 20, 2010
Last Revised: March 7, 2011
Number: ASA-2010-013
Risk Level: Medium
Advisory Version: 4.0
Advisory Status: Final

1. Overview:

D-Bus is a system for sending messages between applications. It is used for the system-wide message bus service and as a per-user-login-session messaging facility.

It was discovered that the Red Hat Security Advisory RHSA-2009:0008 did not correctly fix the denial of service flaw in the system for sending messages between applications. A local user could use this flaw to send a message with a malformed signature to the bus, causing the bus (and, consequently, any process using libdbus to receive messages) to abort. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-1189 to this issue.

More information about these vulnerabilities can be found in the security advisory issued by RedHat Linux:

Avaya System Products rated as a low risk have the vulnerable packages installed but functionality is not utilized.

2. Avaya System Products using RHEL5 with dbus installed:

Product: Affected Version(s): Risk Level: Actions:
Avaya Voice Portal 5.x including 5.1 Medium Upgrade to VP 5.1 SP1 or later.
Avaya Aura™ Session Manager 1.x, 5.x including 5.2 SP1 Medium Upgrade to SM 5.2 SP2 or later.
Avaya Aura™ System Platform 1.1 Low Upgrade to SP 6.0 or later.
Avaya Aura™ Application Enablement Services 5.2.x Low Upgrade to AES 6.1 or later.
Avaya Aura™ System Manager 5.2, 6.0 Medium Upgrade to SMGR 6.0 SP1 or later.

Recommended Actions for System Products:
Avaya strongly recommends that customers follow networking and security best practices by implementing firewalls, ACLs, physical security or other appropriate access restrictions. Though Avaya believes such restrictions should always be in place; risk to Avaya's product and the surrounding network from this potential vulnerability may be mitigated by ensuring these practices are implemented until such time as a product actions are applied. Further restrictions as deemed necessary based on the customer's security policies may be required during this interim period.

3. Avaya Software-Only Products:

Avaya software-only products operate on general-purpose operating systems. Occasionally vulnerabilities may be discovered in the underlying operating system or applications that come with the operating system. These vulnerabilities often do not impact the software-only product directly but may threaten the integrity of the underlying platform.

In the case of this advisory Avaya software-only products are not affected by the vulnerability directly but the underlying Linux platform may be. Customers should determine on which Linux operating system the product was installed and then follow that vendor's guidance.

Product: Actions:
CVLAN Depending on the Operating System provided by customers, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the CVLAN application.
Avaya Integrated Management Suite (IMS) Depending on the Operating System provided by customers, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the IMS application.
Voice Portal Depending on the Operating System provided by customers, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the Voice Portal application.
Avaya Aura™ Application Enablement Services 4.x Depending on the Operating System provided by customers, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the AES application.

Recommended Actions for Software-Only Products:
In the event that the affected package is installed, Avaya recommends that customers follow recommended actions supplied by RedHat Linux.

4. Additional Information:

Additional information may also be available via the Avaya support website and through your Avaya account representative. Please contact your Avaya product support representative, or dial 1-800-242-2121, with any questions.

5. Disclaimer:

ALL INFORMATION IS BELIEVED TO BE CORRECT AT THE TIME OF PUBLICATION AND IS PROVIDED "AS IS". AVAYA INC., ON BEHALF ITSELF AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES AND AFFILIATES (HEREINAFTER COLLECTIVELY REFERRED TO AS "AVAYA"), DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND FURTHERMORE, AVAYA MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES THAT THE STEPS RECOMMENDED WILL ELIMINATE SECURITY OR VIRUS THREATS TO CUSTOMERS' SYSTEMS. IN NO EVENT SHALL AVAYA BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE INFORMATION OR RECOMMENDED ACTIONS PROVIDED HEREIN, INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, STATUTORY, CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF AVAYA HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HERE DOES NOT AFFECT THE SUPPORT AGREEMENTS IN PLACE FOR AVAYA PRODUCTS. SUPPORT FOR AVAYA PRODUCTS CONTINUES TO BE EXECUTED AS PER EXISTING AGREEMENTS WITH AVAYA.

6. Revision History:

V 1.0 - January 20, 2010 - Initial Statement issued.
V 2.0 - August 19, 2010 - Changed VP, SM and SP actions.
V 3.0 - October 12, 2010 - Changed SMGR actions.
V 4.0 - March 7, 2011 - Changed AES actions and advisory status to final.

Send information regarding any discovered security problems with Avaya products to either the contact noted in the product's documentation or securityalerts@avaya.com.

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