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Red Hat: RHSA-2014:2025-01 Critical: NTP Buffer Overflow Exploit

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Calendar Grey December 20, 2014
Scroller Redhat
Crucial NTP safety patch for CentOS addresses several vulnerabilities. Immediate upgrade is recommended.
Updated ntp packages that fix several security issues are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure all previously released errata relevant to your system have been applied.

This update is available via the Red Hat Network. Details on how to use the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258

Summary

The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is used to synchronize a computer's time with a referenced time source.
Multiple buffer overflow flaws were discovered in ntpd's crypto_recv(), ctl_putdata(), and configure() functions. A remote attacker could use either of these flaws to send a specially crafted request packet that could crash ntpd or, potentially, execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the ntp user. Note: the crypto_recv() flaw requires non-default configurations to be active, while the ctl_putdata() flaw, by default, can only be exploited via local attackers, and the configure() flaw requires additional authentication to exploit. (CVE-2014-9295)
It was found that ntpd automatically generated weak keys for its internal use if no ntpdc request authentication key was specified in the ntp.conf configuration file. A remote attacker able to match the configured IP restrictions could guess the generated key, and possibly use it to send ntpdc query or configuration requests. (CVE-2014-9293)
It was found that ntp-keygen used a weak method for generating MD5 keys. This could possibly allow an attacker to guess generated MD5 keys that could then be used to spoof an NTP client or server. Note: it is recommended to regenerate any MD5 keys that had explicitly been generated with ntp-keygen; the default installation does not contain such keys). (CVE-2014-9294)
All ntp users are advised to upgrade to this updated package, which contains backported patches to resolve these issues. After installing the update, the ntpd daemon will restart automatically.

References

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2014-9293 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2014-9294 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2014-9295 https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#important

Package List

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 5 client):
Source: ntp-4.2.2p1-18.el5_11.src.rpm
i386: ntp-4.2.2p1-18.el5_11.i386.rpm ntp-debuginfo-4.2.2p1-18.el5_11.i386.rpm
x86_64: ntp-4.2.2p1-18.el5_11.x86_64.rpm ntp-debuginfo-4.2.2p1-18.el5_11.x86_64.rpm
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (v. 5 server):
Source: ntp-4.2.2p1-18.el5_11.src.rpm
i386: ntp-4.2.2p1-18.el5_11.i386.rpm ntp-debuginfo-4.2.2p1-18.el5_11.i386.rpm
ia64: ntp-4.2.2p1-18.el5_11.ia64.rpm ntp-debuginfo-4.2.2p1-18.el5_11.ia64.rpm
ppc: ntp-4.2.2p1-18.el5_11.ppc.rpm ntp-debuginfo-4.2.2p1-18.el5_11.ppc.rpm
s390x: ntp-4.2.2p1-18.el5_11.s390x.rpm ntp-debuginfo-4.2.2p1-18.el5_11.s390x.rpm
x86_64: ntp-4.2.2p1-18.el5_11.x86_64.rpm ntp-debuginfo-4.2.2p1-18.el5_11.x86_64.rpm
These packages are GPG signed by Red Hat for security. Our key and details on how to verify the signature are available from https://access.redhat.com/security/team/key/


Severity
important
Lowest
Low
Medium
High
Critical

Advisory ID: RHSA-2014:2025-01
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Issue date: 2014-12-20

Topic

Updated ntp packages that fix several security issues are now available forRed Hat Enterprise Linux 5.Red Hat Product Security has rated this update as having Important securityimpact. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base score, whichgives a detailed severity rating, is available from the CVE link in theReferences section.

Relevant Releases Architectures

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (v. 5 server) - i386, ia64, ppc, s390x, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 5 client) - i386, x86_64

Bugs Fixed

1176032 - CVE-2014-9293 ntp: automatic generation of weak default key in config_auth()

1176035 - CVE-2014-9294 ntp: ntp-keygen uses weak random number generator and seed when generating MD5 keys

1176037 - CVE-2014-9295 ntp: Multiple buffer overflows via specially-crafted packets

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