The following security advisory is sent to the securiteam mailing list, and can
be found at the SecuriTeam web site: http://www.securiteam.com
- - promotion
The SecuriTeam alerts list - Free, Accurate, Independent.
Get your security news from a reliable source.
http://www.securiteam.com/mailinglist.html
- - - - - - - - -
PHP Input Validation Vulnerabilities (addslashes, Windows Only)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY
PHP is vulnerable to meta character attacks. The bug could enable an
attacker to read arbitrary files from the file system of a web server that
hosts PHP scripts. In addition newer versions of PHP contain a bug that
enables an attacker to manipulate the file name of uploaded files to
perform directory traversal.
While both vulnerabilities exist in Windows and UNIX platform versions of
PHP, they can only be successfully exploited on Windows systems.
DETAILS
Vulnerable Systems:
* PHP version 4.3.9 (arbitrary file reading)
* PHP version 4.3.6 up to 4.3.9 inclusive and PHP version 5.0.0 up to
5.0.2 inclusive (directory traversal)
Immune Systems:
* PHP version 4.3.10
* PHP version 5.0.3
addslashes() Vulnerability:
Scope:
PHP version 4.3.9 contains a bug in the function addslashes().
addslashes() can be used to sanitize userinput and render it thus
impossible for an attacker to influence scripts by injection meta
characters. In the default configuration, magic_quotes_gpc is set to "On"
which auto-magically performs addslashes() on every input value. However
because of a bug, the NULL byte is not correctly encoded by addslashes,
enabling an attacker to read arbitrary files from the file system, if user
input is used within include() or require() directives.
Details:
Addslashes should turn a NULL byte (will be written as %00 in this
advisory) into the string "\0" (backslash zero). In version 4.3.9 the NULL
byte is encoded as "\%00" (backslash null byte). Everything after the NULL
byte is ignored in include and require directives so that an attacker can
truncate the name of the file that is included in the PHP script. The last
character however will always be the backslash. As in Windows the
backslash is the path delimiter, this does not matter - the file named
before the backslash is still loaded.
Example:
Consider the following PHP script:
<?
$whatever = addslashes($_REQUEST['whatever']);
include("/path/to/program/" . $whatever . "/header.htm");
?>
A malicious attacker might open the following URL, disclosing the boot.ini
file:
http://localhost/phpscript.php?whatever=../../../../boot.ini%00
The trailing backslash from the escaped \%00 does for some reason not seem
to be of concern to include().
Upload Path Traversal Vulnerability:
Scope:
PHP automatically sanitizes the file name of uploaded files removing
everything before the last slash or backslash. This is done in order to
prevent path traversal attacks with uploaded files. However if an attacker
uploads a file containing a single quote and the attacked web server has
magic_quotes turned on (which is default configuration) or performs an
addslashes() directive on the name of the uploaded file, the quote is
prefixed with a backslash. This occurs after PHP checks for backslashes in
the filename. As the backslash is the path delimiter in windows, this
behavior enables an attacker to traverse the path by one directory level.
Example:
If a file with the name "..'file.ext" is uploaded, PHP turns the name to
"..\'file.ext" and the file is uploaded to the directory below of where
the PHP script copies it.
Vendor Status:
The vendor has been timely informed and has released patched versions of
the software (PHP 4.3.10/PHP 5.0.3). Those can be downloaded from
<http://www.php.net> http://www.php.net.
Timeline:
Oct. 08: Notified vendor of addslashes vulnerability
Oct. 14: Vendor reply
Nov. 02: Notified vendor of upload vulnerability
Nov. 04: Vendor reply
Nov. 20: Problems fixed in CVS
Dec. 14: Release of patched versions 4.3.10/5.0.3
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The information has been provided by <mailto:research@sec-consult.com>
Daniel Fabian.
========================================
This bulletin is sent to members of the SecuriTeam mailing list.
To unsubscribe from the list, send mail with an empty subject line and body to:
list-unsubscribe@securiteam.com
In order to subscribe to the mailing list, simply forward this email to:
list-subscribe@securiteam.com
====================
====================
DISCLAIMER:
The information in this bulletin is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any
kind.
In no event shall we be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct,
indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or special
damages.
