[NEWS] Cisco Products found to Contain zlib Compression Library Vulnerability

From: support@securiteam.com
Date: 04/04/02 

From: support@securiteam.com
To: list@securiteam.com
Date: Thu,  4 Apr 2002 11:53:18 +0200 (CEST)

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  Cisco Products found to Contain zlib Compression Library Vulnerability
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SUMMARY

There is a vulnerability in the zlib compression library. This code is
used in multiple applications. While we have not identified any Cisco
product that is directly impacted by the vulnerability, several products
are using third-party modules that are vulnerable or that are running on
an operating system that is vulnerable. This vulnerability has been
publicly disclosed.

Cisco PSIRT is still evaluating which products are affected by this
vulnerability.

There is no workaround for this vulnerability.

DETAILS

Affected Products:
The following products are affected:

Cache Software/ACNS
 * Content Engine 507, 560, 590, and 7320 running Cache Software 3.1.1 or
Application and Content Networking Software 4.0.x or 4.1.1
 * Content Router 4430 and Content Distribution Manager 4630 and 4650
running Application and Content Networking Software 4.0.x or 4.1.1

ME1100
This product reached the end-of-life state in 2001. This product is no
longer supported, and customers are strongly advised to migrate to a
recent product.

Cisco Intrusion Detection System
Cisco IDS sensor appliances (part numbers IDS-4210, IDS-4220-E and
IDS-4230-xx) are vulnerable if the sensor version as reported by nrvers is
in the range 3.0(1) through 3.0(5) inclusive. The C6000 IDSM (part number
WS-X6381-IDS) is not vulnerable.

Metro 1500 DWDM
All releases prior to software release 3.3b are affected.

Hosting Solution Engine (HSE)
HSE releases 1.0 and 1.3 are vulnerable.

We are still evaluating the rest of Cisco products against this
vulnerability.

We have verified that the following products are not vulnerable or that
exposure is negligible. Note that this is not an exhaustive list.
 * Cisco IOSŪ
 * Cisco CatOS
 * Cisco SN 5420 Storage Routers
 * PIX Firewall
 * VPN 3000, 3500
 * User Registration Tool (URT)

Some products, such as Cisco IOS, use compressed images. In order to
utilize this attack vector, an attacker would have to prepare a tampered
distribution image and try to load it onto a device. That implies either
physical or administrative access to the device. By having such access, an
attacker is in a position to execute many other attacks, some of which are
much easier to accomplish. Although Cisco will incorporate the fixed
version of zlib in the subsequent software releases for products that
belong to this category, that fact will not be reflected in this advisory.

Details:
There is a bug in the decompression algorithm used by the popular zlib
compression library. By sending a crafted block of invalid compressed
data, an attacker can cause the application to corrupt internal data. This
happens when the application tries to uncompress the data.

In most cases, this vulnerability will cause denial of service. However,
depending on the right circumstances and applications, there is a
potential that an attacker could execute an arbitrary code. This code
would then be executed using the privileges of the application in
question.

Impact:
By repeatedly exploiting this vulnerability, an attacker can cause denial
of service. It is possible that an attacker will be able to execute an
arbitrary code on the target machine. In that case, this may lead to a
partial or total compromise of the machine in question.

Software Versions and Fixes:
Cache Software/ACNS
ACNS 4.1.3 is the fixed release. It will be available in the second half
of April 2002.

ME1100
This product has reached the end-of-life state and the fix is not
scheduled. Customers are strongly advised to migrate to a recent product.

Cisco Intrusion Detection System
Sensor appliance software version 3.1(1) is the first fixed release. It
will be available on April 16, 2002.

Metro 1500 DWDM
The software release 3.3b is the first fixed release. It will be available
on April 5, 2002.

Hosting Solution Engine
HSE release 1.4 contains the fix. It will be available on April 15, 2002.

Obtaining Fixed Software:
Cisco is offering free software upgrades to address this vulnerability for
all affected customers. Customers may only install and expect support for
the feature sets they have purchased.

Customers with service contracts should contact their regular update
channels to obtain any software release containing the feature sets they
have purchased. For most customers with service contracts, this means that
upgrades should be obtained through the Software Center on Cisco's
Worldwide Web site at <http://www.cisco.com> http://www.cisco.com.

Customers whose Cisco products are provided or maintained through prior or
existing agreement with third-party support organizations such as Cisco
Partners, authorized resellers, or service providers should contact that
support organization for assistance with the upgrade.

Customers who purchased directly from Cisco but who do not hold a Cisco
service contract, and customers who purchase through third party vendors
but are unsuccessful at obtaining fixed software through their point of
sale, should obtain fixed software by contacting the Cisco Technical
Assistance Center (TAC). In these cases, customers may only upgrade to a
later version of the same release or as indicated by the applicable entry
in the Software Versions and Fixes section.

 * +1 800 553 2447 (toll-free from within North America)
 * +1 408 526 7209 (toll call from anywhere in the world)
 * e-mail: tac@cisco.com

See <http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/687/Directory/DirTAC.shtml>
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/687/Directory/DirTAC.shtml for additional
TAC contact information, including special localized telephone numbers and
instructions and e-mail addresses for use in various languages.

Please have your product serial number available and give the URL of this
notice as evidence of your entitlement to a free upgrade.

Please do not contact either "psirt@cisco.com" or
"security-alert@cisco.com" for software upgrades.

Workarounds:
There is no workaround for this vulnerability.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The information has been provided by <mailto:psirt@cisco.com> Cisco
Systems Product Security Incident Response Team.

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