ruby security update (RHSA-2011-0909)

Original Release Date: July 5, 2011
Last Revised: July 25, 2013
Number: ASA-2011-199
Risk Level: Low
Advisory Version: 2.0
Advisory Status: Final

1. Overview:

Ruby is an extensible, interpreted, object-oriented, scripting language. It has features to process text files and to do system management tasks.

A flaw was found in the way large amounts of memory were allocated on 64-bit systems when using the BigDecimal class. A context-dependent attacker could use this flaw to cause memory corruption, causing a Ruby application that uses the BigDecimal class to crash or, possibly, execute arbitrary code. This issue did not affect 32-bit systems. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2011-0188 to this issue.

A race condition flaw was found in the remove system entries method in the FileUtils module. If a local user ran a Ruby script that uses this method, a local attacker could use this flaw to delete arbitrary files and directories accessible to that user via a symbolic link attack. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2011-1004 to this issue.

It was found that WEBrick (the Ruby HTTP server toolkit) did not filter terminal escape sequences from its log files. A remote attacker could use specially-crafted HTTP requests to inject terminal escape sequences into the WEBrick log files. If a victim viewed the log files with a terminal emulator, it could result in control characters being executed with the privileges of that user. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-4492 to this issue.

A cross-site scripting (XSS) flaw was found in the way WEBrick displayed error pages. A remote attacker could use this flaw to perform a cross-site scripting attack against victims by tricking them into visiting a specially-crafted URL. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2010-0541 to this issue.

A flaw was found in the method for translating an exception message into a string in the Exception class. A remote attacker could use this flaw to bypass safe level 4 restrictions, allowing untrusted (tainted) code to modify arbitrary, trusted (untainted) strings, which safe level 4 restrictions would otherwise prevent. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2011-1005 to this issue.

More information about these vulnerabilities can be found in the security advisory issued by Red Hat:

2. Avaya System Products using a modified version of RHEL5 with affected components/packages installed:

Product: Affected Version(s): Risk Level: Actions:
Avaya Aura® System Manager 6.1 thru 6.3.1 Low Upgrade to 6.3.2 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 products and the surrounding network from this potential vulnerability may be mitigated by ensuring these practices are implemented until such time as an Avaya provided product update or the recommended Avaya action is applied. Further restrictions as deemed necessary based on the customer's security policies may be required during this interim period, but customers should not modify the System Product operating system or application unless the change is approved by Avaya. Making changes that are not approved may void the Avaya product service contract.

Mitigating Factors:

When determining risk, Avaya takes into account many factors as outlined by Avaya's Security Vulnerability Classification Policy. The following table describes factors that mitigate the risk of specific vulnerabilities for affected Avaya products:

Vulnerability Mitigating Factors
CVE-2009-4492
CVE-2010-0541
CVE-2011-0188
CVE-2011-1004
CVE-2011-1005
These are a low risk as no critical system applications or processes would be affected.

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:
Avaya Aura® Application Enablement Services 4.x/5.x Depending on the Operating System provided by customers, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the AES application.
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.
Avaya Aura® Presence Services Depending on the Operating System provided by customers, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the PS application.
Avaya Aura® System Manager 1.0 Depending on the Operating System provided by customers, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the SMGR 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.

Recommended Actions for Software-Only Products:
In the event that the affected package is installed, Avaya recommends that customers follow recommended actions supplied by Red Hat regarding their Enterprise 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 - July 5, 2011 - Initial Statement issued.
V 2.0 - July 25, 2013 - Updated SMGR affected versions and actions, and set 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.

Linux® is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.

© 2011 Avaya Inc. All Rights Reserved. All trademarks identifying Avaya products by the ® or ™ are registered trademarks or trademarks, respectively, of Avaya Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.