Microsoft Security Bulletin: January 13 2009 Security Bulletin

January 13, 2009 - Qualys^® Vulnerability R&D Lab has released new vulnerability checks in QualysGuard^® to protect organizations against 1 new vulnerability present in Microsoft Windows that were announced today. Customers can immediately audit their networks for these and other new vulnerabilities by accessing their QualysGuard subscription.

Microsoft has released 1 security patches to fix newly discovered flaws in Microsoft Windows.

Qualys has released the following checks for these new vulnerabilities:

Microsoft SMB Could Allow Remote Code Execution
SEVERITY: Urgent  5
QUALYS ID: 90477
VENDOR REFERENCE: MS09-001
CVE REFERENCE: CVE-2008-4834,CVE-2008-4835,CVE-2008-4114
CVSS SCORES: Base 8.3/ Temporal 6.1
THREAT: The Server Message Block (SMB) Protocol is a network file sharing protocol used to provide shared access to files, printers, serial ports, and miscellaneous communications between nodes on a network. It is a client-server implementation and consists of a set of data packets, each containing a request sent by the client or a response sent by the server. The following remote code execution and denial of service vulnerabilities have been identified in Microsoft SMB protocol which occur when processing specially crafted SMB packets. A vulnerability exists in the way SMB allocates space for a transaction structure and later tries to clear more memory than it should when a TRANS request is processed, allowing an attacker to take control of the system. (CVE-2008-4834) A flaw exists in the way SMB allocates and clears a data structure relating to the OPEN2 command. SMB protocol software insufficiently validates the buffer size before writing to it, allowing attackers to take complete control of the system and allowing remote execution of code. (CVE-2008-4835) A denial of service vulnerability exists due to the way "srv.sys" handles malformed SMB WRITE_ANDX packets sent to an interface that uses a Named Pipe as endpoint. This flaw allows remote attackers to send a specially crafted network message to a computer running the Server service causing it to stop responding. (CVE-2008-4114) Attempts to exploit any of the above listed vulnerabilities does not require authentication. Microsoft has rated the issues as critical for Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003, and moderate for Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008.
IMPACT: An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Successful exploitation also results in denial of service which causes the affected system to crash and stop responding.
SOLUTION: Workaround: TCP ports 139 and 445 should be blocked at the firewall to protect systems behind the firewall from attempts to exploit this vulnerability. Impact of workaround: Blocking the ports can cause several windows services or applications using those ports to stop functioning. Patch: Following are links for downloading patches to fix the vulnerabilities: Windows 2000 SP4: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=E0678D14-C1B5-457A-8222-8E7682760ED4&displaylang=en Windows XP SP2 and SP3: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=EEAFCDC5-DF39-4B29-B6F1-7D32B64761E1&displaylang=en Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and XP Professional x64 Edition SP2: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=26898401-F669-4542-AD93-199ED1FE9A2A&displaylang=en Windows 2003 Server SP1 and SP2: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=588CA8E8-38A9-47ED-9C41-09AAF1022E49&displaylang=en Windows 2003 Server x64 Edition and 2003 Server x64 Edition SP2: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=EE59441C-1E8F-4425-AE8D-DEC14E7F13FB&displaylang=en Windows 2003 Server with SP1 and SP2 for Itanium based systems: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=CAEC9321-FA5B-42F0-9F26-61F673FE6EEF&displaylang=en Windows Vista and Vista SP1: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9179C463-C10A-452A-990F-B7E37CDD889B&displaylang=en Windows Vista x64 Edition and Vista x64 Edition SP1: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=6B26952E-B59D-4B0F-A52D-025E45ECD233&displaylang=en Windows 2008 Server for 32-bit systems: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=7245B411-7C9E-41E5-9841-4C586336086C&displaylang=en Windows 2008 Server for x64-based systems: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=A241EAAD-95A0-442B-978F-F21A6F0C7DB4&displaylang=en Windows 2008 Server for Itanium-based systems: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=AB7C7015-20BB-4A0C-977A-969F4E2A5189&displaylang=en Refer to Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-001 for more information on this issue. Microsoft has rated this vulnerability as Critical.

This new vulnerability check is included in Qualys vulnerability signatures v1.22.108-2. Each QualysGuard account is automatically updated with the latest vulnerability signatures as they become available. To view the vulnerability signature version in your account, from the QualysGuard HOME menu, select the Account Info tab.

SELECTIVE SCAN INSTRUCTIONS USING QUALYSGUARD:

To perform a selective vulnerability scan, configure a scan profile to use the following options:

1. Ensure access to TCP ports 135 and 139 are available.
2. Enable Windows Authentication (specify Authentication Records).
3. Enable the following Qualys IDs:
   • 90477
4. If you would like the scan to return the Windows Hostname, also include QID 82044 and ensure access to UDP port 137 is available.
5. If you would like to be notified if QualysGuard is unable to logon to a host (if Authentication fails), also include QID 105015.

In addition, prior to running a scan for these new vulnerabilities, you can estimate your exposure to these new threats by running the Risk Matrix Report, available from the QualysGuard HOME page.

For more information, customers may contact Qualys Technical Support directly at support@qualys.com or by telephone toll free at:
US: 1 866.801.6161 | EMEA: 33 1 44.17.00.41 | UK: +44 1753 872102

QualysGuard is an on-demand security audit service delivered over the web that enables organizations to effectively manage their vulnerabilities and maintain control over their network security with centralized reports, verified remedies, and full remediation workflow capabilities with trouble tickets. QualysGuard provides comprehensive reports on vulnerabilities including severity levels, time to fix estimates and impact on business, plus trend analysis on security issues. By continuously and proactively monitoring all network access points, QualysGuard dramatically reduces security managers' time researching, scanning and fixing network exposures and enables companies to eliminate network vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.

Access for QualysGuard customers: https://qualysguard.qualys.com

Free trial of QualysGuard service: http://www.qualys.com/forms/trials/qualysguard_trial/