Synopsis

ypserv bug fix and enhancement update

Type/Severity

Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

An updated ypserv package that fixes various bugs and adds one enhancement is
now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

Description

The ypserv utility provides network information (login names, passwords, home
directories, group information) to all of the machines on a network. It can
enable users to log in on any machine on the network as long as the machine has
the Network Information Service (NIS) client programs running and the user's
password is recorded in the NIS passwd database. NIS was formerly known as Sun
Yellow Pages (YP).

This update fixes the following bugs:

• Previously, the rpc.yppasswdd daemon reported success even if the daemon was
  not able to write into a shadow file (for example, because of the incorrect
  SELinux context). With this update, an error is logged in syslog, and
  rpc.yppasswdd now reports failure in the described scenario. (BZ#747317)
  
• Due to the invalid ypdb_close() call, ypserv's virtual memory could in rare
  cases grow to a large size. As a consequence, ypserv failed to respond to
  Network Information Service (NIS) queries and had to be restarted. This update
  removes the invalid ypdb_close() call so that the amount of memory used remains
  at a reasonable size. (BZ#403621)
  
• Previously, when the user updated the ypserv package, the file
  /var/yp/Makefile was replaced, and any changes that the user had made in this
  file were overwritten. The file is now regarded as a config file, and is no
  longer replaced so that user's changes are preserved. (BZ#481780)
  
• Due to a string concatenation error in the code, running the "yppasswdd"
  command with the "-x" option in order to pass data to an external program to
  update the source files and maps, could have caused garbage characters to be
  inserted in front of the username. This caused the output to become unparseable.
  With this update, the operation is changed to a string-copy, so that the
  username is no longer corrupted when using the "-x" option. (BZ#681699)
  
• Previously, error messages of the rpc.yppasswdd utility were unclear when
  running the "yppasswdd" command with the "-x" option in order to pass data to an
  external program. This update adds quotation marks to error messages so that
  they can be easily read. (BZ#695754)
  
• Previously, there was no reference to the YPSERV_ARGS and YPXFRD variables in
  the sysconfig.txt file, neither in the ypserv manual pages. This update adds the
  YPSERV_ARGS and YPXFRD usage information to the ypserv manual pages. (BZ#699662)
  
• Prior to this update, the ypserv package did not contain a file describing
  what license the software used. This update adds the COPYING file which contains
  the license information. (BZ#707195)
  
• Previously, the yppush(8) manual page did not describe how to force the yppush
  utility to use a static port. The yppush(8) manual page has been modified to
  mention that the static port number can be set in /var/yp/Makefile. (BZ#712239)
  
• Prior to this update, the root user could see old passwords of other users.
  This was caused by a change request being logged using syslog when running the
  "yppaswdd" command with the "-x" option to pass data to an external program.
  With this update, the old password hash and the new password hash are cleared in
  syslog and the root user can no longer view the old passwords of other users.
  (BZ#743587)
  

This update also adds the following enhancements:

• Prior to this update, users were not able to change their passwords by running
  the "yppasswd" command if using the passwd.adjunct file, which prevents
  disclosing the encrypted passwords. With this update, users are now able to
  change their passwords. (BZ#679848)
  

All users of ypserv are advised to upgrade to this updated package, which fixes
these bugs and provides this enhancement.

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/kb/docs/DOC-11259

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 5 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 5 ppc
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 5 i386

Fixes

• BZ - 403621 - ypserv excessive vsize
• BZ - 481780 - ypserv replaces /var/yp/Makefile
• BZ - 681699 - yppasswdd -x has garbage prefixed to username
• BZ - 695754 - rpc.yppasswd returns epmty string instead of error messages
• BZ - 699662 - There is no references for some variables in documentation sysconfig.txt
• BZ - 707195 - Missing file COPYING in the ypserv package
• BZ - 712239 - Timeout with yppush and iptables enabled pushing maps to NIS slave server
• BZ - 747317 - yppasswdd returns success when /etc/passwd.adjunct is not writable

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5

SRPM
ypserv-2.19-9.el5.src.rpm	SHA-256: dc106728e801c45f26a012721ed8efbf34356c71d5623707e1e1d95161b903a8
x86_64
ypserv-2.19-9.el5.x86_64.rpm	SHA-256: 69b8a079c0309928960ba6dab7ef614259f3634688e215bff02f8ea658c9a8bf
ia64
ypserv-2.19-9.el5.ia64.rpm	SHA-256: a51ef11eff94ce7b2e3b1ae187e9ae0334291b4734331a3e3af0f1979a42d52e
i386
ypserv-2.19-9.el5.i386.rpm	SHA-256: 44fe32bb0ab86a5dfbf28476eb4da199d0222c4eb1823e3754b87ca32c31f812

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5

SRPM
ypserv-2.19-9.el5.src.rpm	SHA-256: dc106728e801c45f26a012721ed8efbf34356c71d5623707e1e1d95161b903a8
x86_64
ypserv-2.19-9.el5.x86_64.rpm	SHA-256: 69b8a079c0309928960ba6dab7ef614259f3634688e215bff02f8ea658c9a8bf
i386
ypserv-2.19-9.el5.i386.rpm	SHA-256: 44fe32bb0ab86a5dfbf28476eb4da199d0222c4eb1823e3754b87ca32c31f812

Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 5

SRPM
ypserv-2.19-9.el5.src.rpm	SHA-256: dc106728e801c45f26a012721ed8efbf34356c71d5623707e1e1d95161b903a8
s390x
ypserv-2.19-9.el5.s390x.rpm	SHA-256: b011e9495d654dbf1b93399bec9017571edfeb546876936553cd52fcb70f3eec

Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 5

SRPM
ypserv-2.19-9.el5.src.rpm	SHA-256: dc106728e801c45f26a012721ed8efbf34356c71d5623707e1e1d95161b903a8
ppc
ypserv-2.19-9.el5.ppc.rpm	SHA-256: c7678412a086337f2f82890af9c31f2cb330598bf415457bab9560018c0d0dc3

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 5

SRPM
ypserv-2.19-9.el5.src.rpm	SHA-256: dc106728e801c45f26a012721ed8efbf34356c71d5623707e1e1d95161b903a8
x86_64
ypserv-2.19-9.el5.x86_64.rpm	SHA-256: 69b8a079c0309928960ba6dab7ef614259f3634688e215bff02f8ea658c9a8bf
i386
ypserv-2.19-9.el5.i386.rpm	SHA-256: 44fe32bb0ab86a5dfbf28476eb4da199d0222c4eb1823e3754b87ca32c31f812