Microsoft security alert.
January 13, 2009
Advisory overview
Qualys Vulnerability R&D Lab has released new vulnerability checks in the Enterprise TruRisk Platform to protect organizations against 3 vulnerabilities that were fixed in 1 bulletins announced today by Microsoft. Customers can immediately audit their networks for these and other new vulnerabilities by accessing their Qualys subscription. Visit Qualys Security Blog to prioritize remediation.
Non-Qualys customers can audit their network for these and other vulnerabilities by signing up for a Qualys Free Trial, or by trying Qualys Community Edition.
Vulnerability details
Microsoft has released 1 security bulletins to fix newly discovered flaws in their software. Qualys has released the following checks for these new vulnerabilities:
-
Microsoft SMB Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (MS09-001)
- Severity
- Urgent 5
- Qualys ID
- 90477
- Vendor Reference
- MS09-001
- CVE Reference
- CVE-2008-4114, CVE-2008-4834, CVE-2008-4835
- CVSS Scores
- Base 10 / Temporal 7.8
- Description
-
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.
1) 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)
2) 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)
3) 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.
Windows XP Embedded Systems:- For additional information regarding security updates for embedded systems, refer to the following MSDN blog(s):
February Security Updates are Now Available (KB958687)
January 2009 Security Updates for Runtimes Are Available (KB958687)
- Consequence
- 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=enWindows XP SP2 and SP3:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=EEAFCDC5-DF39-4B29-B6F1-7D32B64761E1&displaylang=enWindows XP Professional x64 Edition and XP Professional x64 Edition SP2:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=26898401-F669-4542-AD93-199ED1FE9A2A&displaylang=enWindows 2003 Server SP1 and SP2:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=588CA8E8-38A9-47ED-9C41-09AAF1022E49&displaylang=enWindows 2003 Server x64 Edition and 2003 Server x64 Edition SP2:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=EE59441C-1E8F-4425-AE8D-DEC14E7F13FB&displaylang=enWindows 2003 Server with SP1 and SP2 for Itanium based systems:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=CAEC9321-FA5B-42F0-9F26-61F673FE6EEF&displaylang=enWindows Vista and Vista SP1:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9179C463-C10A-452A-990F-B7E37CDD889B&displaylang=enWindows Vista x64 Edition and Vista x64 Edition SP1:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=6B26952E-B59D-4B0F-A52D-025E45ECD233&displaylang=enWindows 2008 Server for 32-bit systems:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=7245B411-7C9E-41E5-9841-4C586336086C&displaylang=enWindows 2008 Server for x64-based systems:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=A241EAAD-95A0-442B-978F-F21A6F0C7DB4&displaylang=enWindows 2008 Server for Itanium-based systems:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=AB7C7015-20BB-4A0C-977A-969F4E2A5189&displaylang=enRefer to Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-001 for further details.
Patches:
The following are links for downloading patches to fix these vulnerabilities:
MS09-001 Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
MS09-001 Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
MS09-001 Windows Server 2003 with SP1 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
MS09-001 Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition and Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
MS09-001 Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems
MS09-001 Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems
MS09-001 Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems
MS09-001 Windows Vista and Windows Vista Service Pack 1
MS09-001 Windows Vista x64 Edition and Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1
MS09-001 Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
MS09-001 Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3
These new vulnerability checks are included in Qualys vulnerability signature 1.22.108-2. Each Qualys account is automatically updated with the latest vulnerability signatures as they become available. To view the vulnerability signature version in your account, from the Qualys Help menu, select the About tab.
Selective Scan Instructions Using Qualys
To perform a selective vulnerability scan, configure a scan profile to use the following options:
- Ensure access to TCP ports 135 and 139 are available.
- Enable Windows Authentication (specify Authentication Records).
-
Enable the following Qualys IDs:
- 90477
- If you would like the scan to return the Windows Hostname, also include QID 82044 and ensure access to UDP port 137 is available.
- If you would like to be notified if Qualys is unable to log on 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 Analysis Report, available from the Qualys Vulnerability Management Reports tab.
Access for Qualys Customers
Platforms and Platform Identification
Technical Support
For more information, customers may contact Qualys Technical Support.
About Qualys
The Enterprise TruRisk Platform and its integrated suite of security and compliance applications provides organizations of all sizes with a global view of their security and compliance solutions, while drastically reducing their total cost of ownership. Qualys solutions include: continuous monitoring, vulnerability management, policy compliance, PCI compliance, security assessment questionnaire, web application scanning, web application firewall, malware detection and SECURE Seal for security testing of web sites.