IBM moves on Tivoli flaw

By Rohan Parker

TippingPoint, a division of 3Com, has recently uncovered a potential security breach in Tivoli Storage Manager Express. A problem with the TSM Express backup and recovery system could enable unauthorized access to data.

IBM has warned that, due to this security breach, an attack could potentially deliver customized packets to an express server via the TCP socket, causing a buffer overflow. There is a risk that this overflow, if exploited, could allow hostile code to be insinuated into the TSM Express server. This code would then activate upon execution of SYSTEM user privileges.

IBM has assured users that this problem can be addressed by downloading the patch included in the Storage Manager Express 5.3.7.3 software pack update. Without this patch, they say, affected systems will remain at risk, and the security of TSM Express compromised.

This latest security scramble is the second of its kind in the last four months, as IBM continues to shore up potential breaches in Tivoli Storage Manager. The last incident saw recommendations to patch vulnerabilities in the program’s backup client which, if left exposed, could allow data to be tampered with.