WWC snapshot of http://www.alw.nih.gov/Security/Docs/sgi-security-help.html taken on Sat Jun 10 19:13:06 1995

10 August 1994 - SGI Security Advisory

(Insight Help)

To: All SGI workstation administrators

It has come to the attention of the Advanced Laboratory Workstation Project that a potential vulnerability on any Silicon Graphics, Inc. Workstation running the IRIX 5.2 operating system that could enable an unprivileged user to become an active root user. IRIX 5.2 is an operating system that has recently been released by SGI. If you have received a new machine recently, then you will most likely be running IRIX 5.2.
Run the following on your SGI workstation to find the version of the operating system that you are currently running.

              uname -r

If you are running version 5.2, then you must follow the instructions listed below.

Become the root user on the system by logging into your machine as "root" or by using the command
```
         /bin/su - 
```
Remove the sgihelp.books.ViewerHelp subsystem software with the command
```
   versions remove sgihelp.books.ViewerHelp
```

PLEASE NOTE:
Removal of this subsystem will affect other installed software that use the SGI Help system. After the removal, certain help functions from within applications will return non-fatal error messages about the missing subsystem.

We urge you to do this as soon as possible. This is for your own safety as well as your fellow researchers on the network.

Any questions or problems concerning Silicon Graphics Workstations, may be directed to the ALW staff via the UNIX hotline (496-UNIX).

- ALW Staff

Comments to www-alw@alw.nih.gov

Back up to ALW Home Page