bind security update (RHSA-2014-1984)

Original Release Date: January 15, 2015
Last Revised: October 15, 2015
Number: ASA-2015-011
Risk Level: Low
Advisory Version: 2.0
Advisory Status: Final

1. Overview:

The Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) is an implementation of the Domain Name System (DNS) protocols. BIND includes a DNS server (named); a resolver library (routines for applications to use when interfacing with DNS); and tools for verifying that the DNS server is operating correctly.

A denial of service flaw was found in the way BIND followed DNS delegations. A remote attacker could use a specially crafted zone containing a large number of referrals which, when looked up and processed, would cause named to use excessive amounts of memory or crash. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2014-8500 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 or RHEL6 with affected packages installed:

Product: Affected Version(s): Risk Level: Actions:
Avaya Aura® Application Enablement Services 5.x, 6.x None See Mitigating Factors table below.
Avaya Aura® Application Server 5300:
  • SIP Core
3.x None See Mitigating Factors table below.
Avaya IQ 5.x None See Mitigating Factors table below.
Avaya CMS 17.x None See Mitigating Factors table below.
Avaya Aura® Collaboration Environment 2.x thru 3.0 SP3 Low Upgrade to 3.0 SP4 or later.
Avaya Aura® Communication Manager 6.x None See Mitigating Factors table below.
Avaya Communication Server 1000:
  • CS1000E
  • CS1000M
  • CS1000E/CS1000M Signaling Server
7.x None See Mitigating Factors table below.
Avaya Aura® Conferencing 7.x, 8.x None See Mitigating Factors table below.
Avaya Aura® Conferencing Standard Edition 6.x None See recommended actions and Mitigating Factors table below. It is recommended that customers migrate to one of Avaya's conferencing solutions including Aura(r) Conferencing.
Avaya Aura® Experience Portal 6.x, 7.x None See Mitigating Factors table below.
Avaya IP Office Server Edition 8.1, 9.x None See Mitigating Factors table below.
Avaya IP Office Application Server 9.x None See Mitigating Factors table below.
Avaya Meeting Exchange 6.x None See Mitigating Factors table below.
Avaya Message Networking 6.x None See Mitigating Factors table below.
Avaya Aura® Messaging 6.x None See Mitigating Factors table below.
Avaya one-X® Client Enablement Services 6.x None See Mitigating Factors table below.
Avaya Proactive Contact 5.x None See Mitigating Factors table below.
Avaya Aura® Session Manager 6.x Low Upgrade to 7.0 or later.
Avaya Aura® System Manager 6.x None See Mitigating Factors table below.
Avaya Aura® System Platform 6.x None See Mitigating Factors table below.

Recommended Actions for System Products:
Avaya strongly recommends following 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-2014-8500
This is a Low Risk for Collaboration Environment as named is not configured or running by default.
This is a Low risk for Session Manager because the DNS is used only for local hostname resolution and does not do lookups for non-standard zones.
There is no risk for all other listed products because exploit requires bind (named) and it is not installed, only bind-libs or bind-utils is installed.

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.
Avaya IQ Depending on the Operating System installed, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the Avaya IQ 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.

Recommended Actions for Software-Only Products:
In the event that the affected package is installed, Avaya recommends following 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 - January 15, 2015 - Initial Statement issued.
V 2.0 - October 15, 2015 - Updated CE and SM affected versions and actions, and set the advisory status to final.

Avaya customers or Business Partners should report any security issues found with Avaya products via the standard support process.
Independent security researchers can contact Avaya at securityalerts@avaya.com.

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