COMMAND
/usr/bin/X11/scoterm
SYSTEMS AFFECTED
SCO Desktop/OpenServer 3.0 or OpenServer 5.0
PROBLEM
The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. (SCO) posted following info. A
security vulnerability in the implementation of scoterm has been
identified which could allow unprivileged users to gain
unauthorized root access to the system. Any user with an account
on the system may be able to execute arbitrary commands with root
privileges.
A program which exploits this vulnerability is in existence,
although it is not currently being distributed.
SOLUTION
There is a risk that the exploit method may be revealed, so the
patch should be applied as soon as possible. SCO is providing
interim patches to address this issue in the form of a System
Security Enhancement (SSE) package. The SSE package includes
patches for all operating systems listed above. The SSE package
is available for Internet download via anonymous ftp, and from
the SCOFORUM on Compuserve:
*FTP*
ftp://ftp.sco.COM/SSE/sse009.ltr (cover letter, uncompressed)
ftp://ftp.sco.COM/SSE/sse009.tar.Z (new binaries, compressed tar file)
*Compuserve*
GO SCOFORUM, and search the file library for these filenames:
SSE009.LTR (cover letter, compressed)
SSE009.TAZ (new binaries, compressed tar file)
If you are for some reason unable to access or install the
patches, you should temporarily disable scoterm by running the
following command as the root user:
# chmod 0 /usr/bin/X11/scoterm