6.2 - RHSA-2013:0519

Problem Description:

Updated openssh packages that fix one security issue, multiple bugs, and add various enhancements are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having moderate security impact. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available from the CVE link in the References section.

2. Relevant releases/architectures:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) - i386, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) - i386, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) - x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) - x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) - i386, ppc64, s390x, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) - i386, ppc64, s390x, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) - i386, x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) - i386, x86_64

3. Description:

OpenSSH is OpenBSD's Secure Shell (SSH) protocol implementation. These packages include the core files necessary for the OpenSSH client and server.

Due to the way the pam_ssh_agent_auth PAM module was built in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, the glibc's error() function was called rather than the intended error() function in pam_ssh_agent_auth to report errors. As these two functions expect different arguments, it was possible for an attacker to cause an application using pam_ssh_agent_auth to crash, disclose portions of its memory or, potentially, execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2012-5536)

Note that the pam_ssh_agent_auth module is not used in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 by default.

This update also fixes the following bugs:

* All possible options for the new RequiredAuthentications directive were not documented in the sshd_config man page. This update improves the man page to document all the possible options. (BZ#821641)

* When stopping one instance of the SSH daemon (sshd), the sshd init script (/etc/rc.d/init.d/sshd) stopped all sshd processes regardless of the PID of the processes. This update improves the init script so that it only kills processes with the relevant PID. As a result, the init script now works more reliably in a multi-instance environment. (BZ#826720)

* Due to a regression, the ssh-copy-id command returned an exit status code of zero even if there was an error in copying the key to a remote host. With this update, a patch has been applied and ssh-copy-id now returns a non-zero exit code if there is an error in copying the SSH certificate to a remote host. (BZ#836650)

* When SELinux was disabled on the system, no on-disk policy was installed, a user account was used for a connection, and no "~/.ssh" configuration was present in that user's home directory, the SSH client terminated unexpectedly with a segmentation fault when attempting to connect to another system. A patch has been provided to address this issue and the crashes no longer occur in the described scenario. (BZ#836655)

* The "HOWTO" document /usr/share/doc/openssh-ldap-5.3p1/HOWTO.ldap-keys incorrectly documented the use of the AuthorizedKeysCommand directive. This update corrects the document. (BZ#857760)

This update also adds the following enhancements:

* When attempting to enable SSH for use with a Common Access Card (CAC), the ssh-agent utility read all the certificates in the card even though only the ID certificate was needed. Consequently, if a user entered their PIN incorrectly, then the CAC was locked, as a match for the PIN was attempted against all three certificates. With this update, ssh-add does not try the same PIN for every certificate if the PIN fails for the first one. As a result, the CAC will not be disabled if a user enters their PIN incorrectly. (BZ#782912)

* This update adds a "netcat mode" to SSH. The "ssh -W host:port ..." command connects standard input and output (stdio) on a client to a single port on a server. As a result, SSH can be used to route connections via intermediate servers. (BZ#860809)

* Due to a bug, arguments for the RequiredAuthentications2 directive were not stored in a Match block. Consequently, parsing of the config file was not in accordance with the man sshd_config documentation. This update fixes the bug and users can now use the required authentication feature to specify a list of authentication methods as expected according to the man page. (BZ#869903)

All users of openssh are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which fix these issues and add these enhancements. After installing this update, the OpenSSH server daemon (sshd) will be restarted automatically.

4. Solution:

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

This update is available via the Red Hat Network. Details on how to use the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at https://access.redhat.com/knowledge/articles/11258

5. Bugs fixed (http://bugzilla.redhat.com/):

821641 - Document possible options to RequiredAuthentications1/2 826720 - sshd initscript clobbers other sshd processes. 834618 - CVE-2012-5536 pam_ssh_agent_auth: symbol crash leading to glibc error() called incorrectly 836650 - ssh-copy-id returns 0 even if the actual operation fails. 857760 - Error/typo in openssh-ldap HOWTO file 869903 - RequiredAuthentications2 does not work in Match blocks as documented.