ASA-2015-071 (RHSA-2015-0092)
glibc security update (RHSA-2015-0092)

Original Release Date: January 30, 2015
Last Revised: November 8, 2016
Number: ASA-2015-071
Risk Level: Medium
Advisory Version: 4.0
Advisory Status: Final

1. Overview:

The glibc packages provide the standard C libraries (libc), POSIX thread libraries (libpthread), standard math libraries (libm), and the Name Server Caching Daemon (nscd) used by multiple programs on the system. Without these libraries, the Linux system cannot function correctly.

A heap-based buffer overflow was found in glibc's __nss_hostname_digits_dots() function, which is used by the gethostbyname() and gethostbyname2() glibc function calls. A remote attacker able to make an application call either of these functions could use this flaw to execute arbitrary code with the permissions of the user running the application. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2015-0235 to this issue.

More information about this vulnerability can be found in the security advisory issued by Red Hat:

2. Avaya System Products using a modified version of RHEL6 with affected packages installed:

Product: Affected Version(s): Risk Level: Actions:
Avaya CMS R17 through R17 R4 Medium Upgrade to R17 R5 or later or R18 or later.
Avaya Breeze™ Platform 2.x, 3.0 through 3.0 SP3 Medium Upgrade to 3.0 SP4 or later.
Avaya Aura® Conferencing 8.0 through 8.0 SP4 Medium Upgrade to 8.0 SP5 or later.
Avaya Aura® Experience Portal 6.x, 7.x Medium For 6.x, upgrade to 6.0.3 and install security update 2016-04 or later.
For 7.x, upgrade to 7.0.2 and install security update 2015-10 or later.
Avaya IP Office Server Edition 8.1, 9.0 through 9.1.3 Medium Upgrade to 9.1.4 or later.
Avaya IP Office Application Server 9.0 through 9.1.3 Medium Upgrade to 9.1.4 or later.
Avaya one-X® Client Enablement Services 6.2 through 6.2 SP3 Medium Upgrade to 6.2 SP4 or later.
Avaya Aura® Session Manager 6.3 through 6.3.12 Medium Upgrade to 6.3.13 or later.
Avaya Session Border Controller for Enterprise 6.3 through 6.3 SP1 Medium Upgrade to 6.3SP2 or later.

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-2015-0235
The risk is rated Medium for all listed products because the exploit would require local account access. Remote attack may not be possible, because either the DNS server is not running or the products sanitize the input and provide name resolution to trusted hosts only within the enterprise. Additionally, the known affected programs or utilities are not used or additional protection mechanisms are in place that may further mitigate the risk from this exploit.

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® Experience Portal Depending on the Operating System installed, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the EP 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, IS PROVIDED "AS IS", AND IS APPLICABLE ONLY TO PRODUCT VERSIONS ELIGIBLE FOR MANUFACTURER SUPPORT IN ACCORDANCE WITH AVAYA PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE POLICY. 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 30, 2015 - Initial Statement issued.
V 2.0 - February 5, 2015 - Added Avaya Session Border Controller for Enterprise to Section 2.
V 3.0 - May 21, 2015 - Updated affected versions and actions for Conferencing, SM and SBCE.
V 4.0 - November 8, 2016 - Updated all other products 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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