RHSA-2003:229

Vulnerability from csaf_redhat - Published: 2003-07-14 16:00 - Updated: 2025-11-21 17:26
Summary
Red Hat Security Advisory: : : : Updated ypserv packages fix various vulnerabilities
Severity
Important
Notes
Topic: Updated ypserv packages which fix a denial of service (DoS) vulnerability and a memory leak are now available for Red Hat Linux on IBM iSeries and pSeries systems.
Details: The ypserv package contains the Network Information Service (NIS) server. For ypserv versions before 2.5 it was discovered that a memory leak which can be triggered remotely. When someone requests a map that does not exist, a previous mapname may be returned. This happens, for instance, if the command "ypmatch foo aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" is run. Repeatedly running this command will result in the NIS server using more memory and running more slowly. This condition can lead to the killing of the ypserv process due to the system being out of memory. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2002-1232 to this issue. For ypserv version 2.7 and before, a malicious client can block NIS requests. To do this, the malicious client queries ypserv via TCP and then ignores the server's response. The ypserv daemon will then wait indefinitely for a response from the client indicating it received the message. During this time no other client requests are answered by ypserv, causing a DoS. Versions 2.7 and greater of ypserv have been altered to fork a child process for each client request -- thus preventing any one request from causing a DoS. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2003-0251 to this issue. Red Hat recommends that users of NIS immediately upgrade to the packages contained within this erratum, which are not vulnerable to these
Terms of Use: This content is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). If you distribute this content, or a modified version of it, you must provide attribution to Red Hat Inc. and provide a link to the original.
CVE-2002-1232

Memory leak in ypdb_open in yp_db.c for ypserv before 2.5 in the NIS package 3.9 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via a large number of requests for a map that does not exist.

Affected products
Product Identifier Version Remediation
Red Hat Linux 7.1
Red Hat / Red Hat Linux
 cpe:/o:redhat:linux:7.1 —
Vendor Fix fix
Threats
Impact Important
CVE-2003-0251

ypserv NIS server before 2.7 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a TCP client request that does not respond to the server, which causes ypserv to block.

Affected products
Fixed 1 product, the same list as for CVE-2002-1232
Threats
Impact Moderate
References
To clipboard 

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        "text": "Updated ypserv packages which fix a denial of service (DoS) vulnerability\nand a memory leak are now available for Red Hat Linux on IBM iSeries and\npSeries systems.",
        "title": "Topic"
      },
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        "text": "The ypserv package contains the Network Information Service (NIS) server.\n\nFor ypserv versions before 2.5 it was discovered that a memory leak which\ncan be triggered remotely. When someone requests a map that does not exist,\na previous mapname may be returned. This happens, for instance, if the\ncommand \"ypmatch foo aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\" is run. Repeatedly running this\ncommand will result in the NIS server using more memory and running more\nslowly. This condition can lead to the killing of the ypserv process due to\nthe system being out of memory. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures\nproject (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2002-1232 to this issue.\n\nFor ypserv version 2.7 and before, a malicious client can block NIS\nrequests. To do this, the malicious client queries ypserv via TCP and then\nignores the server\u0027s response. The ypserv daemon will then wait\nindefinitely for a response from the client indicating it received the\nmessage. During this time no other client requests are answered by ypserv,\ncausing a DoS. Versions 2.7 and greater of ypserv have been altered to fork\na child process for each client request -- thus preventing any one request\nfrom causing a DoS. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project\n(cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2003-0251 to this issue.\n\nRed Hat recommends that users of NIS immediately upgrade to the packages\ncontained within this erratum, which are not vulnerable to these",
        "title": "Details"
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          "text": "Memory leak in ypdb_open in yp_db.c for ypserv before 2.5 in the NIS package 3.9 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via a large number of requests for a map that does not exist.",
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          "details": "Before applying this update, make sure all previously released errata\nrelevant to your system have been applied.\n\nTo update all RPMs for your particular architecture, run:\n\nrpm -Fvh [filenames]\n\nwhere [filenames] is a list of the RPMs you wish to upgrade.  Only those\nRPMs which are currently installed will be updated.  Those RPMs which are\nnot installed but included in the list will not be updated.  Note that you\ncan also use wildcards (*.rpm) if your current directory *only* contains the\ndesired RPMs.\n\nPlease note that this update is also available via Red Hat Network.  Many\npeople find this an easier way to apply updates.  To use Red Hat Network,\nlaunch the Red Hat Update Agent with the following command:\n\nup2date\n\nThis will start an interactive process that will result in the appropriate\nRPMs being upgraded on your system.",
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          "text": "ypserv NIS server before 2.7 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a TCP client request that does not respond to the server, which causes ypserv to block.",
          "title": "Vulnerability description"
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}



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