NEXTSTEP

Title: Sendmail Patch Addendum
Entry Number: 1546
Last Updated: <<Date June 13 1995>>

The sendmail patch NeXT recently made available does not update the entire sendmail subsystem.  In the original system software release, the files /usr/bin/mailq and /usr/bin/newaliases are *hard links: to the same file (i-node) as /usr/lib/sendmail.  The patch replaces only the file called /usr/lib/sendmail, and does not affect the other two links.  This leaves a system with the patch installed still open to some of the vulnerabilities addressed by the patch.

(/usr/bin/mailq provides a summary of the messages in the message queue, and /usr/bin/newaliases regenerates the flat-file aliases database, which is referenced by sendmail.)

To close the vulnerabilities, follow the steps below.

1.	Either log in as root and run the Terminal application, or, in a Terminal window, su to root.

2.	Run the following commands (you type what's in boldface):
rhino-6# cd /usr/bin
rhino-7# rm mailq newaliases
rhino-8# ln -s ../lib/sendmail mailq
rhino-9# ln -s ../lib/sendmail newaliases

3.	It is not necessary to reboot the computer, nor to restart the sendmail daemon.

The result of this procedure is to replace the old mailq and newaliases with relative symbolic links to the new sendmail.

This procedure should be performed on all NEXTSTEP computers on which the sendmail patch has been installed.  Failure to complete the installation according to these instructions can result in your system remaining open to some of the vulnerabilities which the sendmail patch addresses.