[VulnWatch] iDefense Security Advisory 01.10.06: Sun Solaris uustat Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

Sun Solaris uustat Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

iDefense Security Advisory 01.10.06
http://www.idefense.com/intelligence/vulnerabilities/display.php?id=366
January 10, 2006

I. BACKGROUND

The uustat binary (part of the uucp project) is used to display or
cancel uucp requests as well as to provide general status on uucp
connections to other systems.

II. DESCRIPTION

There exists a buffer overflow venerability in the /usr/bin/uustat
binary in Sun Solaris 5.8 and 5.9.

The uustat binary is installed setuid "uucp" by default on Solaris. The
"-S" command line argument causes the binary to crash when followed
with a string that is greater than or equal to 1152 bytes in length.

The following shows the buffer being overflowed and then the o1
register being completely overwritten with the letter 'A':

bash-2.03% ls -l /usr/bin/uustat
---s--x--x   1 uucp     uucp    62012 Jan 17 16:07 uustat

bash-2.03$ /usr/bin/uustat -S `perl -e 'print "A"x3000'`
Segmentation Fault
bash-2.03$
(gdb) info registers
g0             0x0      0
g1             0xff315e98       -13541736
g2             0x1cc00  117760
g3             0x440    1088
g4             0x0      0
g5             0x0      0
g6             0x0      0
g7             0x0      0
o0             0xff3276a8       -13470040
o1             0x41414141       1094795585
...

III. ANALYSIS

By exploiting this buffer overflow, an attacker can potentially gain
control of the return address of the executing function, allowing
arbitrary code execution with "uucp" privileges.

IV. DETECTION

Solaris 8 and 9 are running on SPARC and x86 architectures are
vulnerable.

V. WORKAROUND

iDefense is currently unaware of any workarounds for this issue.

VI. VENDOR RESPONSE

The vendor has released the following advisory to address this issue:

 http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-26-101933-1

VII. CVE INFORMATION

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project has assigned the
name CAN-2004-0780 to this issue. This is a candidate for inclusion in
the CVE list (http://cve.mitre.org), which standardizes names for
security problems.

VIII. DISCLOSURE TIMELINE

08/11/2004   Initial vendor contact
08/11/2004   Initial vendor response
01/10/2006   Coordinated public disclosure

IX. CREDIT

Angelo Rosiello (http://www.rosiello.org) is credited with discovering
this vulnerability.

Get paid for vulnerability research
http://www.idefense.com/poi/teams/vcp.jsp

Free tools, research and upcoming events
http://labs.idefense.com

X. LEGAL NOTICES

Copyright (c) 2006 iDefense, Inc.

Permission is granted for the redistribution of this alert
electronically. It may not be edited in any way without the express
written consent of iDefense. If you wish to reprint the whole or any
part of this alert in any other medium other than electronically, please
email customerservice@xxxxxxxxxxxx for permission.

Disclaimer: The information in the advisory is believed to be accurate
at the time of publishing based on currently available information. Use
of the information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition.
There are no warranties with regard to this information. Neither the
author nor the publisher accepts any liability for any direct, indirect,
or consequential loss or damage arising from use of, or reliance on,
this information.

Relevant Pages