Executive brief
A security vulnerability exists in the suid_exec utility within HP Apollo Domain/OS, an operating system used in legacy workstation environments. This flaw allows a local user to gain unauthorized elevated privileges, potentially taking full control of the system. Such an exploit could lead to the theft of sensitive data or a complete disruption of operations on the affected machine.
Technical details
A vulnerability exists in the /etc/suid_exec program in HP Apollo Domain/OS versions sr10.2 and sr10.3 beta. The flaw is related to how the Korn Shell (ksh) handles the suid_exec helper utility, which is designed to execute setuid scripts. A local attacker with shell access can exploit this component to bypass security restrictions and execute commands with elevated (root) privileges. This is a classic privilege escalation vulnerability resulting from insecure handling of setuid execution environments. Patches were historically made available by the vendor to address this issue.
Affected products
- HP Apollo Domain/OS sr10.2, sr10.3 beta
Timeline
- 1990-12-31: disclosed: Initial disclosure via CERT advisory CA-1990-04