CERT Advisory 010

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CERT Advisory

 · 4 years ago

  

 
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CA-90:03                       CERT Advisory 
                                May 7, 1990 
                    Unisys U5000 /etc/passwd problem 

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The CERT/CC has recently verified several reports of unauthorized access  
to Internet connected Unisys systems.  The intruder(s) gained access to  
these systems by logging into vendor supplied default accounts; accounts  
that had not been given passwords by the systems' owners.   

Gary Garb, Corporate Computer Security Officer for Unisys Corporation,  
states:  

 "The Unisys U5000 series UNIX systems are delivered with a number of 
 system logins.  The logins are NOT password protected when the 
 customer receives the system.  Unless the customer secures these logins, 
 the system is vulnerable to unauthorized access." 

 "A complete list of these logins can be found in the /etc/passwd file. 
 Each login is described by one record in /etc/passwd which contains a  
 number of fields separated by colons.  The second field normally would 
 contain the encrypted password.  The system logins will initially have 
 a null second field (indicated by two adjacent colons) in their descriptive 
 records in /etc/passwd." 

 "The U5000/80/85/90/95 System V Administration Guide, Volume 1 (UP13679) 
 begins with a chapter on "System Identification and Security".  On page 1-2 
 it states, "All logins should have passwords ... Logins that are not needed 
 should be either removed (by deleting from /etc/passwd) or blocked (by  
 locking the login as described in the section "Locking Unused Logins" on 
 page 1-8).  The Guide contains complete instructions on controlling logins 
 and passwords." 

 "It is the user's (system administrator's) responsibility to thoroughly 
 read the Guide and to ensure the security of the system.  *Securing the  
 login entries should be of the highest priority and should be accomplished 
 before anyone else has access to the system.*" 

The CERT/CC urges administrators of Unisys systems, as well as administrators  
of systems provided by other vendors,  to check their systems and insure all  
accounts are protected by passwords; passwords that are different from the  
default passwords provided by the vendor.  

Questions regarding the security aspects of Unisys systems should be directed  
to: 
   Gary Garb, Corporate Security Officer 
   Unisys Corporation 
   (215) 986-4038 
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Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) 
Software Engineering Institute 
Carnegie Mellon University 
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890 

Internet: cert@cert.org 
Telephone: 412-268-7090 24-hour hotline: CERT personnel answer 
           7:30a.m.-6:00p.m. EST, on call for 
           emergencies other hours. 

Past advisories and other information are available for anonymous ftp 
from cert.org (192.88.209.5). 

 
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