From: BEA Systems Inc.
Minor Subject: Security policy changes may not be seen by managed server.
Product(s) Affected: WebLogic Server
Threat level: Medium
Not intentionally exploitable remotely or locally.
Severity: Medium
Policy changes made on an admin server may not be seen by a managed server.
A problem was identified that could potentially cause a security vulnerability in certain versions of WebLogic Server. A patch is available to correct this problem (see Section II). BEA Systems treats potential security problems with a high degree of urgency and endeavors to take appropriate steps to help ensure the security of our customers' systems. As a result, BEA Systems strongly suggests the following actions:
I. Read the following advisory.
II. Apply the suggested action.
III. If you know of any additional users interested in future security advisories, please forward them the registration instructions included in this advisory.
I. Advisory
All sites that use admin servers to set security policy for managed servers are vulnerable.
In very specific circumstances a policy change made on an admin server for a currently unavailable managed server will never reach the managed server. This is caused by a problem in the handling of the admin server's change log.
This would lead to an administrator thinking that the managed server was running with the latest security policies when in fact the managed server might be running with an older set of security policies.
This patch resolves the issue by ensuring that security policies will be correctly sent to the managed server.
The following versions of WebLogic Server and WebLogic Express are affected by this vulnerability
- WebLogic Server 9.1, on all platforms.
II. SUGGESTED ACTION
BEA Systems strongly recommends the following course of actions.
WebLogic Server and WebLogic Express version 9.1
- Use the Smart Update tool to install the patch for CR282546.
WebLogic Server 9.2 includes the functionality in this patch.
BEA strongly suggests that customers apply the remedies recommended in all our security advisories. BEA also urges customers to apply every Service Pack as they are released. Service Packs include a roll-up of all bug fixes for each version of the product, as well as each of the prior Service Packs. Service Packs and information about them can be found at:
WebLogic Server: http://commerce.bea.com/showallversions.jsp?family=WLS
WebLogic Platform: http://commerce.bea.com/showallversions.jsp?family=WLP
Note: Information about securing WebLogic Server and WebLogic Express can be found at http://edocs.bea.com/wls/docs81/security.html. Specific lockdown information is provided at http://edocs.bea.com/wls/docs81/lockdown/index.html. We strongly encourage you to review this documentation to ensure your server deployment is securely configured.
III. FUTURE SECURITY COMMUNICATIONS
If there are security-related issues with BEA product, BEA Systems generally distributes an advisory and instructions with a recommended course of action. Because the security of your site, data, and code is a high priority, we are committed to generally communicating security-related issues to our customers and partners.
All previous advisories can be viewed at http://dev2dev.bea.com/advisoriesnotifications/
BEA Systems has established an opt-in emailing list specifically targeted for product security advisories and notifications. As a policy, if a user has opted-in to our emailing list and there is a relevant security issue with the BEA product(s) he/she is using, BEA generally distributes an advisory and instructions via email with a recommended course of action.
ADDITIONAL USERS WHO WISH TO REGISTER FOR ADVISORY DISTRIBUTION SHOULD FOLLOW THE REGISTRATION DIRECTIONS AT http://dev2dev.bea.com/advisoriesnotifications/
IV. REPORTING SECURITY ISSUES
Security issues can be reported to BEA by sending email to secalert@bea.com or by following the directions at http://dev2dev.bea.com/advisoriesnotifications/. If BEA has validated a reported security issue, we will endeavor to assess the severity of the impact of the security issue and the likelihood of the exploitation of the vulnerability. Based on these assessments and other factors, BEA will endeavor to develop and appropriately prioritize a workaround or patch designed to reduce or eliminate the risk of the vulnerability.
If you have any questions or care to verify the authenticity of this advisory, please contact BEA Technical Support at support@bea.com
Thank you,
BEA Systems, Inc.
