August 1, 2012 - Vol 2, Issue 14

Cilasoft EAM - Control Powerful Users


Monitor File Integrity - Powertech





Is Your JD EDWARDS Database Secure? See how SKYVIEW PARTNERS can help!

Feature Article

Carsten's Security Code for IBM i

Work with Command Security - WRKCMDSEC

By Carsten Flensburg

The IBM i Operating System includes several hundred Control Language(CL) commands, many of which provide access to critical and sensitive system and security functions. IBM puts a lot of effort into restricting access to these commands by setting public authority adequately and, if necessary, requires additional user profile special authority in order to successfully execute sensitive commands.

The command’s public or private authority could however for some reason be changed at a later point and so could the command’s Allow limited user attribute, which normally excludes end-users from running most CL commands. Add to this the number of user created commands and 3rd party vendor supplied commands that exist on most systems and you’re looking at quite a challenge in order to manage, monitor and audit access to the CL commands.

Are the CL Commands Created by IBM?

We often assume that all commands in the main operating system library QSYS were supplied to us by IBM. But, how can you be sure? User created commands possibly masquerading as legitimate IBM supplied commands may be implementing malware on your system. WRKCMDSEC can help you detect commands that were not created by IBM.

And the Validity Checking Program(VCP)?

Another area of Security/Audit concern is that a Validity Checking Program(VCP) may have been added to an IBM or Vendor supplied command. This method is used by some to enforce additional command rules or to add some additional logic to a CL command when it is used. A Validity Checking Program may also be used as an insertion point for potential malware.

The WRKCMDSEC command can help you determine if a command has a Validity Checking Program.

Commands for Limited Users

Each CL command(*CMD) definition contains an attribute named ALWLMTUSR(Allow Limited User) that determines if the command can be run at a command line by users that have been created as Limited Capabilities Users (i.e. LMTCPB(*YES)).

IBM ships certain non-intrusive commands like DSPMSG(Display Message) and DSPJOBLOG(Display Job log) as ALWLMTUSR(*YES), thereby allowing Limited Capabilities users to run these commands at a command line. But, for protection, IBM ships almost all CL commands with the setting ALWLMTUSR(*NO), in which Limited Capabilities Users cannot run the commands at a command line.

CL Commands like DLTLIB(Delete Library) and DLTF(Delete File) would be very dangerous in the hands of an end-user, but thankfully these are two of the commands that are shipped from IBM with the attribute ALWLMTUSR(*NO). For more information on the Misconceptions on User Limited Capabilities and Command Line access, see Dan Riehl's article in the July 10, 2012 issue of the SecureMyi Newsletter.

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In This Issue


Featured Article - WRKCMDSEC

Security Shorts - Your last SAVSYS?

Featured Video - Using Authorization Lists

Industry News and Calendar

Security Resources

Quick Links


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IBM i Security News Bytes

SkyView Partners and Vision Solutions ink Product Integration Deal

SkyView Partners, the IBM i and AIX Compliance firm, has announced the integration of their Policy Minder software product with the Vision Solutions Portal (VSP).

Vision Solutions Portal (VSP) delivers a single, browser-based, point of control for monitoring and managing alerts and notifications on the IBM i through the MIMIX Global solution.

SkyView Policy Minder delivers automated security compliance monitoring and reporting for the IBM i environment.

With this new integration, Vision customers will be able to see if SkyView Policy Minder security compliance checks have been successful through the browser-based interface that is part of the MIMIX Global solution. If problems arise, visual alerts are provided to allow further investigation.

More Information about the announcement.




IBM i Security Calendar of Events



Live Security Related Webcasts and Training for IBM i

5 Tips for Administering Security in the IFS
Live webcast - Featuring Carol Woodbury - Sponsored by Skyview Partners
Thursday August 2 10:00 AM CDT
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Getting Started On The Road To Compliance
Live webcast - Sponsored by Powertech
Wednesday August 8 1:00 PM CDT
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Crowd Control - Managing Access For Powerful Users
Live webcast - Sponsored by Powertech
Wednesday August 29 1:00 PM CDT
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Live 4-Day Hands-On Expanded Security Workshop for IBM i
Full Length Training Workshop - August 21-24 9:00am - 4:00pm Central Time
Dan Riehl presents his 4-Day Live Online Hands-on Security Workshop for the IBM i.
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Monitor File Integrity - Powertech

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Is Your JD EDWARDS Database Secure? See how SKYVIEW PARTNERS can help!

SecureMyi.com Security Workshop

Featured YouTube Educational Video

IBM i Security - Common Misconceptions - Using Authorization Lists

Featured Video - IBM i Security - Common Misconceptions - Using Authorization Lists

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PCI Compliance Blueprint From Powertech

Security Shorts -

When was your last SAVSYS, SAVCFG, SAVSECDTA ?

By Dan Riehl

Backup and Recovery is an area that is critical to the security and integrity of our systems. If someone accidentally wipes out a file, or in the event of a large scale disaster, it's critical we have all of the pieces needed to recover the file, or the entire system.

We typically have a pretty good handle on when we last backed up our User Libraries, our Document Library objects, and the root '/' file system. But what about the last save of the operating system? And what about our user profiles and security data and our system configuration objects? When was that data last backed up? And what tape or other media contains the last backup?

When we save a library using the SAVLIB command, objects are marked with the save date and save device information, as long as we specify UPDHST(*YES). But when we save the operating system, the objects that are saved are not marked with the save information. The same is true when we save user profiles and configuration data. The saved objects are not updated with the last save date.

IBM has supplied some special purpose data areas in the QSYS library that are updated with the save date and save device information when we perform certain save operations.

When we save our security data (including user profiles) using the command Save Security Data (SAVSECDTA), the special data area QSAVUSRPRF in QSYS is updated to reflect the save date and time and save device information.

Below is a list of various SAVE commands and the associated QSYS data area. Upon execution of the command, the data area is updated.

Save Command          Data Area Updated 
SAVCFG		      QSAVCFG	
SAVLIB *ALLUSR	      QSAVALLUSR
SAVLIB *IBM	      QSAVIBM	
SAVLIB *NONSYS	      QSAVLIBALL
SAVSECDTA	      QSAVUSRPRF
SAVSTG		      QSAVSTG	
SAVSYS		      QSAVSYS, QSAVUSRPRF, QSAVCFG
SAVSYSINF 	      QSYSINF

Viewing the Last Save Date and Device

To view the last save information, you display the object description (DSPOBJD), you don't display the content of the data area. You can start with the command Work with Objects (WRKOBJ), as shown here:

WRKOBJ OBJ(QSYS/QSAV*) OBJTYPE(*DTAARA)

This command allows you to work with all the data areas in the QSYS library that start with the characters QSAV. This results in the following display:

      
                                Work with Objects                                
                                                                                
 Type options, press Enter.                                                     
   2=Edit authority        3=Copy   4=Delete   5=Display authority   7=Rename   
   8=Display description   13=Change description                                
                                                                                
 Opt  Object      Type      Library     Attribute   Text                        
  _   QSAVALLUSR  *DTAARA   QSYS                    S/R DIRECTORY INFO FOR SAVE 
  _   QSAVCFG     *DTAARA   QSYS                    S/R DIRECTORY INFO FOR SAVE 
  _   QSAVIBM     *DTAARA   QSYS                    S/R DIRECTORY INFO FOR SAVE 
  _   QSAVLIBALL  *DTAARA   QSYS                    S/R DIRECTORY INFO FOR SAVE 
  _   QSAVSTG     *DTAARA   QSYS                    S/R DIRECTORY INFO FOR SAVE 
  _   QSAVSYS     *DTAARA   QSYS                    S/R DIRECTORY INFO FOR SAVE 
  8   QSAVUSRPRF  *DTAARA   QSYS                    S/R DIRECTORY INFO FOR REST 

Place option 8(DSPOBJD) next to one of the data areas. In the example, we chose QSAVUSRPRF to see when we last saved our security data (including user profiles). Scroll through the resulting list to see the last Save Date, and Save Volume.

If you simply want to examine one of the special SAVE data areas, you can use the command DSPOBJD. Here's an example that can be used to display the information on the last time we did a SAVSECDTA.

DSPOBJD OBJ(QSAVUSRPRF) OBJTYPE(*DTAARA)

While We're Here: Where IS Your SAVSYS?

While we're here discussing saving the system and its different pieces, check to make sure you're routinely saving your user profiles and system configuration data. Also check to make sure you have a good SAVSYS backup media handy. You probably did a SAVSYS operation the last time you made a major change to the operating system, like an OS upgrade, or after applying a cumulative PTF package.

If you don't have these backups available (SAVSYS, SAVSECDTA, SAVCFG), plan to do a the needed backups as soon as you can. You don't want to be stuck in a recovery scenario needing to go back to the original IBM distribution media. That would be a disaster on top of a disaster.




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