[IPT] Security update

Mon Sep 23 17:19:15 CEST 2013

I'll suggest to those institutions that they upgrade to newer version of
CentOs.  I know of three that are using CentOs 5.  Two of the three host
other things on those servers besides IPT so they may be less inclined to
change.

Laura Russell
VertNet Programmer
VertNet
KU Biodiversity Institute
1345 Jayhawk Blvd.
Dyche Hall, Room 606
Lawrence, KS 66045

Phone: +01 785 864-4681
Fax: +01 785 864-5335

email: larussell at vertnet.org
email: larussell at ku.edu

Skype: laura.anne.russell
Gchat: larussell at vertnet.org

url: www.vertnet.org

From:  "Tim Robertson [GBIF]" <trobertson at gbif.org>
Date:  Monday, September 23, 2013 10:10 AM
To:  Laura Russell <larussell at vertnet.org>
Cc:  "IPT at lists.gbif.org list" <ipt at lists.gbif.org>, Mickael Graf
<Mickael.Graf at nrm.se>, Anders Telenius <Anders.Telenius at nrm.se>
Subject:  Re: [IPT] Security update

Hi Laura 

We use CentOS for the majority of our servers, but we're on CentOS 6.3 or
6.4 depending on where the server is in its management cycle - 6.x has been
out since mid 2011.  I'd suggest aiming to follow updates once or twice a
year if possible.  CentOS is serving us very well.

Since we're talking about upgrades, security etc - at the GBIF secretariat
also prioritizing Java 7 upgrades across the board as 6 is no longer
supported by Oracle (meaning it could be a security risk as issues will most
likely no longer be fixed - I stop short of saying "won't be", but Oracle
are saying it is now end of life:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/eol-135779.html).  The IPT will
remain backwardly compatible for Java 6 though.

Cheers,
Tim

On Sep 23, 2013, at 5:00 PM, Laura Russell wrote:

> I'd be interested in knowing the outcomes of the CentOs patching as several of
> the institutions I support or advise on their IPTs use CentOs.  I'm just
> getting ready to email all of them now to get to work on this.
> 
> Laura Russell
> VertNet Programmer
> VertNet
> KU Biodiversity Institute
> 1345 Jayhawk Blvd.
> Dyche Hall, Room 606
> Lawrence, KS 66045
> 
> Phone: +01 785 864-4681
> Fax: +01 785 864-5335
> 
> email: larussell at vertnet.org
> email: larussell at ku.edu
> 
> Skype: laura.anne.russell
> Gchat: larussell at vertnet.org
> 
> url: www.vertnet.org <http://www.vertnet.org>
> 
> 
> From: "Tim Robertson [GBIF]" <trobertson at gbif.org>
> Date: Monday, September 23, 2013 9:53 AM
> To: Mickael Graf <Mickael.Graf at nrm.se>
> Cc: "IPT at lists.gbif.org list" <ipt at lists.gbif.org>, Anders Telenius
> <Anders.Telenius at nrm.se>
> Subject: Re: [IPT] Security update
> 
> Hej Mickael, 
> 
> Thanks for taking action.
> 
> Can you share your catalina logs please?  This could be well a conflict in
> dependencies or similar.  We'll help diagnose.  If you would rather not CC
> everyone, please contact Kyle and myself directly and CC only those you are
> happy to discuss details with.
> 
> As an aside - those OS and tomcat versions are quite ancient.  There could
> well be other security holes in your system for other reasons, so I'd suggest
> scheduling some upgrades for safety reasons when it fits with your other
> deployments - most likely you are aware of this though.
> 
> Cheers,
> Tim
> 
> 
> On Sep 23, 2013, at 4:42 PM, Mickael Graf wrote:
> 
>> Dear all,
>> 
>> I went through the all steps and now, although I have a nice
>> $tomcat/webapps/ipt directory I have a not so nice error 404 while trying to
>> access the app for completing the installation. "The requested resource () is
>> not available." it says...
>> 
>> I don't know if the reason is my old centos 5/tomcat 5 or an error in
>> ipt.war, but I would bet on the latter.
>> 
>> Cheers
>> Mickaël
>> 
>> 
>> From: ipt-bounces at lists.gbif.org [ipt-bounces at lists.gbif.org] on behalf of
>> Kyle Braak [GBIF] [kbraak at gbif.org]
>> Sent: Monday, September 23, 2013 12:31
>> To: IPT at lists.gbif.org list
>> Subject: [IPT] Security update
>> 
>> Dear IPT users,
>> 
>> This is an important message.
>> 
>> IPT administrators should update their IPTs to the new version which has a
>> security update and was released yesterday:
>> https://code.google.com/p/gbif-providertoolkit/
>> 
>> The security update fixes critical vulnerabilities that have been discovered
>> in the Apache Struts web framework, which the IPT uses.
>> 
>> According to this article
>> <http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9241639/Hackers_target_servers_runnin
>> g_Apache_Struts_apps?source=CTWNLE_nlt_security_2013-08-15> , these Struts
>> vulnerabilities allow hackers to break into a server. It goes on to say that
>> hackers are actively exploiting these vulnerabilities.
>> 
>> Simple instructions on how to update your IPT are below. If you don't have
>> time to update your IPT immediately, I would advise you to take it offline
>> until you can.
>> 
>> You can refer to this article
>> <https://www.mandiant.com/blog/responding-attacks-apache-struts2/> , which
>> describes how to determine if you have been attacked.
>> 
>> Please email the IPT list directly for more help upgrading your installation.
>> 
>> Sincerely,
>> 
>> Kyle, on behalf of the IPT development team and the GBIF Secretariat
>> 
>> Instructions how to update IPT in Tomcat:
>> 1. Please download:
>> https://gbif-providertoolkit.googlecode.com/files/ipt-2.0.5-security-update-1
>> .war
>> 2. Backup IPT data directory somewhere safe
>> 3. Remove ipt.war from $tomcat/webapps/ (some seconds later, the deployed
>> /ipt folder should automatically delete)
>> 4. Once ipt.war and /ipt have been removed from /webapps - stop Tomcat
>> 5. Add new version to /webapps renaming it from
>> ipt-2.0.5-security-update-1.war to ipt.war
>> 6. Start Tomcat
>> 7. In a browser open the application (if it doesn't appear at first, try
>> restarting Tomcat once more).
>> 8. When prompted for IPT data directory, enter same location as existing IPT
>> data directory 
>> 9. Press continue, hopefully installation succeeds.
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> IPT mailing list
>> IPT at lists.gbif.org
>> http://lists.gbif.org/mailman/listinfo/ipt
> 

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