iDefense Security Advisory 10.30.07: IBM AIX lquerypv Stack Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

IBM AIX lquerypv Stack Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

iDefense Security Advisory 10.30.07
http://labs.idefense.com/intelligence/vulnerabilities/ Oct 30, 2007

I. BACKGROUND The lquerypv utility is used to examine the properties of a physical volume in a volume group. It is installed set-uid root by default on multiple versions of AIX.

II. DESCRIPTION Local exploitation of a stack buffer overflow vulnerability in IBM Corp.'s AIX operating system may allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code with root privileges.

The vulnerability exists within the parsing of the '-V' command line option. The argument to this option is copied into a fixed size stack buffer using the sprintf() function without properly validating the length. This leads to an exploitable stack buffer overflow.

III. ANALYSIS Exploitation of this vulnerability results in the execution of arbitrary code with root privileges. The binary may be executed by any user with a local account, no special group membership is needed.

IV. DETECTION iDefense has confirmed the existence of this vulnerability in AIX version 5.2 and 5.3. Previous versions may also be affected.

V. WORKAROUND Removing the set-uid bit from the binary will prevent exploitation, but may make the program unusable by non-root users.

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VI. VENDOR RESPONSE IBM Corp. has addressed this vulnerability by releasing interim fixes. More information can be found via the Bulletins tab of IBM's Subscription Service for UNIX and Linux servers. You can reach this service by clicking the URL shown below.

http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/subscriptions/pqvcmjd?mode=1

VII. CVE INFORMATION The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project has assigned the name CVE-2007-4513 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

08/21/2007  Initial vendor notification
08/22/2007  Initial vendor response
10/30/2007  Coordinated public disclosure

IX. CREDIT This vulnerability was discovered by Sean Larsson of VeriSign iDefense Labs.

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X. LEGAL NOTICES Copyright © 2007 iDefense, Inc.

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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. Received on Tue Oct 30 15:10:58 2007