RHSA-2005:564

Problem Description:

Updated PHP packages that fix two security issues are now available.

This update has been rated as having important security impact by the Red
Hat Security Response Team.

2. Relevant releases/architectures:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS version 3 - i386, ia64, ppc, s390, s390x, x86_64
Red Hat Desktop version 3 - i386, x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES version 3 - i386, ia64, x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS version 3 - i386, ia64, x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS version 4 - i386, ia64, ppc, s390, s390x, x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop version 4 - i386, x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES version 4 - i386, ia64, x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS version 4 - i386, ia64, x86_64

3. Problem description:

PHP is an HTML-embedded scripting language commonly used with the Apache
HTTP Web server.

A bug was discovered in the PEAR XML-RPC Server package included in PHP.
If a PHP script is used which implements an XML-RPC Server using the PEAR
XML-RPC package, then it is possible for a remote attacker to construct an
XML-RPC request which can cause PHP to execute arbitrary PHP commands as
the 'apache' user. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project
(cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2005-1921 to this issue.

When using the default SELinux "targeted" policy on Red Hat Enterprise
Linux 4, the impact of this issue is reduced since the scripts executed by
PHP are constrained within the httpd_sys_script_t security context.

A race condition in temporary file handling was discovered in the shtool
script installed by PHP. If a third-party PHP module which uses shtool was
compiled as root, a local user may be able to modify arbitrary files.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has
assigned the name CAN-2005-1751 to this issue.

Users of PHP should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain
backported fixes for these issues.

4. Solution:

Before applying this update, make sure all previously released errata
relevant to your system have been applied.

This update is available via Red Hat Network. To use Red Hat Network,
launch the Red Hat Update Agent with the following command:

up2date

This will start an interactive process that will result in the appropriate
RPMs being upgraded on your system.

5. Bug IDs fixed (http://bugzilla.redhat.com/):

158904 - Incorrect descriptions for php-ncurses and php-gd packages
159000 - CAN-2005-1751 shtool insecure temporary file creation
162044 - CAN-2005-1921 PHP PEAR XML_RPC arbitrary code execution