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The U.S. Department of Energy
Computer Incident Advisory Capability
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INFORMATION BULLETIN
Sun Buffer Overflow in Web Connector Module of Application Server
[Sun(sm) Alert Notification 52022]
March 26, 2003 23:00 GMT Number N-064
______________________________________________________________________________
PROBLEM: An unbound string operation causes a stack buffer overflow in
the Web Connector Plugin module.
PLATFORM: * Sun ONE/iPlanet Application Server 6.0
* Sun ONE/iPlanet Application Server 6.0 Service pack 1
* Sun ONE/iPlanet Application Server 6.0 Service pack 2
* Sun ONE/iPlanet Application Server 6.0 Service pack 3
* Sun ONE/iPlanet Application Server 6.0 Service pack 4
* Sun ONE/iPlanet Application Server 6.5
* Sun ONE/iPlanet Application Server 6.5 Maintenance Update 1
* Sun ONE/iPlanet Application Server 6.5 Maintenance Update 2
The following web servers on all supported platforms are impacted
when the web connector plugin is installed:
* Sun ONE/iPlanet Web Server
* Microsoft IIS
* Apache
DAMAGE: May cause the web server to crash, or possibly allow an
attacker to gain control of the web server.
SOLUTION: Apply available patches and workarounds as indicated in Sun's
Alert Notification.
______________________________________________________________________________
VULNERABILITY The risk is HIGH. A remote attacker who successfully crashes a
ASSESSMENT: vulnerable web server may gain control of that web server.
______________________________________________________________________________
LINKS:
CIAC BULLETIN: http://www.ciac.org/ciac/bulletins/n-064.shtml
ORIGINAL BULLETIN:
http://www.sunsolve.sun.com/pub-cgi/
retrieve.pl?doc=fsalert%2F52022&zone_32=category%3Asecurity
______________________________________________________________________________
[***** Start Sun(sm) Alert Notification 52022 *****]
Sun(sm) Alert Notification
Sun Alert ID: 52022
Synopsis: Buffer Overflow in Web Connector Module of Application Server
Category: Security
Product: Sun ONE Application Server
BugIDs: 4652612
Avoidance: Workaround, Patch, Upgrade
State: Resolved
Date Released: 24-Mar-2003
Date Closed: 24-Mar-2003
Date Modified:
1. Impact
A buffer overflow exists in the Web Connector Plugin that ships with the
Sun ONE Application Server 6.x product line. This Web Connector Plugin
enables integration between a web server and the Sun ONE Application
Server. Incoming HTTP request URLs are handled by this module and an
unbounded string operation can cause a overflow. It may be possible to
crash the web server being used and potentially gain control of that
web server.
Sun acknowledges, with thanks, @stake for bringing this issue to our
attention and for suggesting the basis of the workaround .
This issue is described in the @stake Security Advisory located at:
http://www.atstake.com/research/advisories/2003/a031303-1.txt.
2. Contributing Factors
This issue can occur in the following releases:
Versions of the Sun ONE Application Server impacted:
Sun ONE/iPlanet Application Server 6.0
Sun ONE/iPlanet Application Server 6.0 Service pack 1
Sun ONE/iPlanet Application Server 6.0 Service pack 2
Sun ONE/iPlanet Application Server 6.0 Service pack 3
Sun ONE/iPlanet Application Server 6.0 Service pack 4
Sun ONE/iPlanet Application Server 6.5
Sun ONE/iPlanet Application Server 6.5 Maintenance Update 1
Sun ONE/iPlanet Application Server 6.5 Maintenance Update 2
The following web servers on all supported platforms are impacted when
the web connector plugin is installed:
Sun ONE/iPlanet Web Server
Microsoft IIS
Apache
Note: The exact web server versions are listed in the release notes
for each version of the Sun ONE Application Server. There is no bug
in the web server product.
Versions of the Sun ONE Application Server that are NOT impacted:
Sun ONE Application Server 6.5 Maintenance Update 3
Sun ONE/iPlanet Application Server 6.5 SP1
Sun ONE Application Server 7 Platform Edition
Sun ONE Application Server 7 Standard Edition
3. Symptoms
The web server may exit abnormally ("crash").
Solution Summary Top
4. Relief/Workaround
The following patches are available:
http://wwws.sun.com/software/download/products/3e7a563d.html
Instructions to apply the patches/workarounds:
Note: For windows it would be a "DLL" instead of an "so" file.
README files are attached with the patches.
Sun ONE/iPlanet Web Server 4.1 Service Pack 1 through 12:
In the config directory of the particular webserver instance,
(e.g. iws4.13/https-ias/config), make the following two changes in
the "obj.conf" file:
1) Add the following entry:
Init fn="load-modules" shlib="<path to location of patch>/nsapipatch.so"
funcs="check_uri_length"
Ensure that the line is added before the existing Init entries.
2) Add the following entry within the <Object name=default> section,
as the first line of the section:
NameTrans fn="check_uri_length" maxlength=255
Now the "obj.conf" file will contain something like the following:
...
Init fn="load-modules" shlib="/<path to location of patch><nsapipatch.so"
funcs="check_uri_length"
...
<Object name=default>
NameTrans fn="check_uri_length" maxlength=255
...
</Object>
Restart the webserver instance. The "maxlength" value must be set to 255 to
protect the web server from this buffer overflow.
Sun ONE/iPlanet Web Server 6.0 Service Pack 1 through 5 "download":
In the config directory of the particular webserver instance,
(e.g. iws6.0sp2b/https-ias/config), add the following entry in the
"magnus.conf" file such that this entry appears before the iAS
webconnector plugin entries:
Init fn="load-modules" shlib="<path to location of patch>/nsapipatch.so"
funcs="check_uri_length"
Add the following entry in the "obj.conf" file within <Object name=default>
section as the first entry:
NameTrans fn="check_uri_length" maxlength=255
Now the "obj.conf" file will contain something like the following:
<Object name=default>
NameTrans fn="check_uri_length" maxlength=255
...
</Object>
Restart the webserver instance. The "maxlength" value must be set to 255
to protect the web server from this buffer overflow.
Microsoft IIS(only for Windows) users :
Copy "iispatch.dll" to a suitable directory, for example,
C:\winnt\system32\iispatch.dll. Goto Windows Registry HK_LOCAL_MACHINE /
SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/W3SVC/Parameters. Edit "Filter DLLs" key.
Prepend the value by the above path followed by a comma(','). Now the new
registry value looks like the following:
C:\winnt\system32\iispatch.dll,c:\inetpub\wwwroot\cgi-bin\gx.dl
Restart the webserver instance.
Apache Web Server:
Edit the "httpd.conf" file and add the line "LimitRequestLine 255".
Restart the webserver.
Notes: In addition to the patches/workarounds mentioned above, the following
configuration can be used on Solaris platforms .
Some relief to the buffer overflow is available by enabling non-executable
user stacks (although this does not provide 100 percent protection against
exploitation of this vulnerability, it makes the likelihood of a successful
exploit much smaller). This workaround is only effective on sun4u, sun4m,
and sun4d architectures (enter "uname -m" to display a systems architecture).
This workaround will not work on Intel platforms.
To enable non-executable program stacks add the following lines to the
"/etc/system" file and reboot the system:
set noexec_user_stack = 1
set noexec_user_stack_log = 1
On other operating systems, workarounds may exist and please follow
guidelines from respective vendors.
5. Resolution
This issue is addressed in the following releases:
Sun ONE Application Server 6.5 Maintenance Update 3
Sun ONE Application Server 6.5 Service Pack 1
Available at: http://wwws.sun.com/software/download/app_servers.html.
[***** End Sun(sm) Alert Notification 52022 *****]
_______________________________________________________________________________
CIAC wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Sun Microsystems, Inc. and
@stake, Inc. for the information contained in this bulletin.
_______________________________________________________________________________
CIAC, the Computer Incident Advisory Capability, is the computer
security incident response team for the U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE) and the emergency backup response team for the National
Institutes of Health (NIH). CIAC is located at the Lawrence Livermore
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