gnupg security update (RHSA-2013-1458)

Original Release Date: November 27, 2013
Last Revised: July 22, 2015
Number: ASA-2013-533
Risk Level: Low
Advisory Version: 3.0
Advisory Status: Final

1. Overview:

The GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG or GPG) is a tool for encrypting data and creating digital signatures, compliant with the proposed OpenPGP Internet standard and the S/MIME standard.

It was found that GnuPG was vulnerable to the Yarom/Falkner flush+reload cache side-channel attack on the RSA secret exponent. An attacker able to execute a process on the logical CPU that shared the L3 cache with the GnuPG process (such as a different local user or a user of a KVM guest running on the same host with the kernel same-page merging functionality enabled) could possibly use this flaw to obtain portions of the RSA secret key. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2013-4242 to this issue.

A denial of service flaw was found in the way GnuPG parsed certain compressed OpenPGP packets. An attacker could use this flaw to send specially crafted input data to GnuPG, making GnuPG enter an infinite loop when parsing data. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2013-4402 to this issue.

It was found that importing a corrupted public key into a GnuPG keyring database corrupted that keyring. An attacker could use this flaw to trick a local user into importing a specially crafted public key into their keyring database, causing the keyring to be corrupted and preventing its further use. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2012-6085 to this issue.

It was found that GnuPG did not properly interpret the key flags in a PGP key packet. GPG could accept a key for uses not indicated by its holder. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2013-4351 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 packages installed:

Product: Affected Version(s): Risk Level: Actions:
Avaya Aura® Application Enablement Services 5.x thru 6.3.3 Low For bundled offer versions 5.x thru 6.3.1, upgrade to 6.3.3 or later.
For System Platform offer version 5.x thru 6.3.1, upgrade to 6.3.3 and install Security Update Patch 2 or later.
For VMware offer version 6.3.3, install Security Update Patch 2 or later.
Avaya Aura® Application Server 5300:
  • SIP Core
2.x, 3.0 without SP7 Low Upgrade to 3.0 SP7 or later.
Avaya IQ 5.2 thru 5.2.5 Low Upgrade to 5.2.6 and install Patch 2 or later.
Avaya Aura® Communication Manager 6.0 thru 6.3 Low For versions prior to 6.3, upgrade to 6.3 and install 6.3 Security Service Pack 3 (SSP3) or later.
For 6.3, install 6.3 Security Service Pack 3 (SSP3) or later.
Avaya Communication Server 1000:
  • CS1000E
  • CS1000M
  • CS1000E/CS1000M Signaling Server
6.x,7.0 thru 7.5 Low Upgrade to release 7.6 or later.
Avaya Aura® Conferencing 7.0 thru 7.2 SP2 Low Upgrade to 7.2 SP3 or later.
Avaya IP Office Application Server 8.x Low Upgrade to 9.0 or later.
Avaya Aura® Messaging 6.0.x thru 6.3.2 SP1 Low Upgrade to 6.3.2 SP2 or later.
Avaya one-X® Client Enablement Services 6.0.x, 6.1.x Low Upgrade to 6.2 or later.
Avaya Aura® Presence Services 6.0.x, 6.1, 6.1.1 Low Upgrade to 6.1.2 or later.
Avaya Proactive Contact 5.0.x thru 5.1 Low Upgrade to 5.1.1 or later.
Avaya Aura® Session Manager 5.x, 6.0.x thru 6.2.x Low Upgrade to 6.3 or later.
Avaya Aura® System Manager 5.x, 6.0.x Low Upgrade to 6.1.x or later.
Avaya Voice Portal 5.x Low Upgrade to EP 7.x or later.

Recommended Actions for System Products:
Avaya strongly recommends following the 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 the System Product operating system or application should not be modified 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-2012-6085
The risk is rated Low for all products because keyring is not used.
CVE-2013-4402
The risk is rated Low for all products because only administrative users have the capability to execute the process.
CVE-2013-4242
CVE-2013-4351
The risk is rated Low for all products because PGP traffic is not handled by the product.

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 Depending on the Operating System installed, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the AES application.
CVLAN Depending on the Operating System installed, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the CVLAN application.
Avaya Aura® Experience Portal Depending on the Operating System installed, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the EP application.
Avaya Integrated Management Suite (IMS) Depending on the Operating System installed, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the IMS application.
Avaya Aura® Presence Services Depending on the Operating System installed, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the PS application.
Avaya Secure Access Link Gateway Depending on the Operating System installed, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the SAL Gateway application.
Avaya Voice Portal Depending on the Operating System installed, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the VP application.

Recommended Actions for Software-Only Products:
In the event that the affected package is installed, Avaya recommends following the 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 - November 27, 2013 - Initial Statement issued.
V 2.0 - May 22, 2015 - Updated affected versions and actions for AES,AS5300,Conferencing, Messaging,Proactive Contact, updated actions for SM and VP and updated affected versions for CS1K.
V 3.0 - July 22, 2015 - Updated affected versions and actions for IQ, 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.

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