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Vulnerability in TNEF Decoding in Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Exchange
Allow Code Execution (MS06-003)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Outlook and
Microsoft Exchange Server because of the way that it decodes the Transport
Neutral Encapsulation Format (TNEF) MIME attachment.
An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially
crafted TNEF message that could potentially allow remote code execution
when a user opens or previews a malicious e-mail message or when the
Microsoft Exchange Server Information Store processes the specially
crafted message. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability
could take complete control of an affected system.
DETAILS
Vulnerable Systems:
* Microsoft Office 2000 Service Pack 3
* Microsoft Office 2000 Software:
* Microsoft Outlook 2000
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=64D0336D-F962-4AB1-A724-9F6BA2108CB9>
Download the update (KB892842)
* Microsoft Office 2000 MultiLanguage Packs
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=2C0FA7C7-91AA-49B4-9731-9E83E3E0823D>
Download the update (KB892842)
* Microsoft Outlook 2000 English MultiLanguage Packs
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=2C0FA7C7-91AA-49B4-9731-9E83E3E0823D>
Download the update (KB892842)
* Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3
Microsoft Office XP Software:
* Microsoft Outlook 2002
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=9A85CEBB-0D9A-465D-A4BC-AF501562772D>
Download the update (KB892841)
* Microsoft Office XP Multilingual User Interface Packs
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=CCA9399A-6DA3-4163-8398-C58DC328182B>
Download the update (KB892841)
Note Multilingual User Interface Packs are for non- English packages.
* Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 1 and Service Pack 2
Microsoft Office 2003 Software:
* Microsoft Outlook 2003
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=1D156043-B041-4305-8442-3C4E3B832788>
Download the update (KB892843)
* Microsoft Office 2003 Multilingual User Interface Packs
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=D69554AD-196F-4789-91E5-B2A753EED854>
Download the update (KB892843)
* Microsoft Office 2003 Language Interface Packs
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=db080de8-8193-4c32-9019-9980ecd6874a>
Download the update (KB887617)
Note Multilingual User Interface Packs are for non- English packages
Microsoft Exchange Server
* Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0 Service Pack 2
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=0A8DF1C3-ABF9-4A21-9B49-81FA362B251F>
Download the update (KB894689)
* Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 Service Pack 4
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=EC6BD30E-12DE-4CA1-9432-D2E73AF62427>
Download the update (KB894689)
* Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Pack 3 with the Exchange 2000
Post-Service Pack 3 Update Rollup of August 2004
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=372FF07F-C3CA-4301-8559-9B90344EDC02>
Download the update (894689)
Immune Systems:
* Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 1
* Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Outlook and
Microsoft Exchange Server because of the way that it decodes the Transport
Neutral Encapsulation Format (TNEF) MIME attachment.
An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially
crafted TNEF message that could potentially allow remote code execution
when a user opens or previews a malicious e-mail message or when the
Microsoft Exchange Server Information Store processes the specially
crafted message.
An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take
complete control of an affected system.
Mitigating Factors for TNEF Decoding Vulnerability -
<http://www.cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2006-0002>
CVE-2006-0002:
* Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the
system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative
user rights.
Workarounds for TNEF Decoding Vulnerability -
<http://www.cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2006-0002>
CVE-2006-0002:
Microsoft has tested the following workarounds. While these workarounds
will not correct the underlying vulnerability, they help block known
attack vectors. When a workaround reduces functionality, it is identified
in the following section.
* Block MS-TNEF on Microsoft Exchange Server to help protect against
attempts to exploit this vulnerability through SMTP e-mail.
Systems can be configured to block certain types of files from being
received as e-mail attachments. Microsoft TNEF-encoded e-mail messages,
commonly known as rich text format (RTF) e-mail messages, can contain
malicious OLE objects. These e-mail messages contain a file attachment
that stores the TNEF information. This file attachment is usually named
Winmail.dat. Blocking this file, and blocking the ms-tnef MIME type, could
help protect Exchange servers and other affected programs from attempts to
exploit this vulnerability if customers cannot install the available
security update. To help protect an Exchange Server computer from attacks
through SMTP, block the Winmail.dat file and all application/ms-tnef MIME
type content before it reaches the Exchange Server computer.
Note You cannot mitigate this vulnerability by setting the Exchange
rich-text format option in Exchange Server to Never used or by disabling
TNEF processing by editing the registry.
Note Exchange supports other messaging protocols, such as X.400, that
these workarounds do not protect. We recommend that administrators require
authentication on all other client and message transport protocols to help
prevent attacks using these protocols.
Note Filtering only for attachments that have the file name Winmail.dat
may not be sufficient to help protect your system. A malicious file
attachment could be given another file name that could then be processed
by the Exchange Server computer. To help protect against malicious e-mail
message s, block all application/ms-tnef MIME type content.
There are many ways to block the Winmail.dat file and other TNEF content.
Here are some suggestions:
* You can use ISA Server 2000 SMTP Message Screener to block all file
attachments or to block only the Winmail.dat file. Blocking all file
attachments provides the most protection for this issue if you use ISA
Server 2000 because ISA Server 2000 does not support blocking content
based on MIME content types. For more information, see
<http://support.microsoft.com/?id=315132> Microsoft Knowledge Base Article
315132.
* You can use ISA Server 2000 SMTP Filter to block all file attachments
or to block only the Winmail.dat file. Blocking all file attachments
provides the most protection for this issue if you use ISA Server 2000
because ISA Server 2000 does not support blocking content based on MIME
content types. For more information, see
<http://support.microsoft.com/?id=320703> Microsoft Knowledge Base Article
320703.
* You can use ISA Server 2004 SMTP Filter and Message Screener block all
file attachments or just the Winmail.dat file. Blocking all file
attachments provides the most protection for this issue if you use ISA
Server 2004 because ISA Server 2004 does not support blocking content
based on MIME content types. For more information, see
<http://support.microsoft.com/?id=888709> Microsoft Knowledge Base Article
888709.
* You can use third-party e-mail filters to block all
application/ms-tnef MIME type content before it is sent to the Exchange
Server computer or to a vulnerable application.
Impact of workaround: If TNEF attachments are blocked, e-mail messages
that are formatted as RTF will not be received correctly. In some cases,
users could receive blank e-mail messages instead of the original
RTF-formatted e-mail message. In other cases, users may not receive e-mail
messages that are formatted as RTF at all. Blocking the TNEF attachments
will not affect e-mail messages that are formatted as HTML or that are
formatted as plain text. Perform this workaround only if you cannot
install the available security update or if a security update is not
publicly available for your configuration.
* Require authentication for connections to a server that is running
Microsoft Exchange Server for all client and message transport protocols.
Requiring authentication for all connections made to the Exchange Server
computer will help protect against anonymous attacks. This will not
protect against an attack from a malicious user who can successfully
authenticate.
Impact of workaround: Anonymous communication from clients through IMAP,
POP3, HTTP, LDAP, SMTP, and NNTP will no longer be possible. Server to
server anonymous communication through RPC, X.400, foreign gateway, and
third-party connector protocols will also no longer be possible. In most
configurations of Exchange Server, authenticated access is already
required for all protocols except SMTP. If all application/ms-tnef MIME
type message parts and the Winmail.dat file are blocked, as described in
the previous workaround, anonymous SMTP connections could still be
accepted.
* Do not accept incoming public newsfeeds through the NNTP protocol on
Microsoft Exchange Server.
Incoming newsfeeds are not enabled by default for Exchange Server. If you
have subscribed to incoming newsfeeds from public newsgroups, an attacker
could post a malicious message to such a newsgroup. Even if you require
authentication between the news server and your Exchange Server computer,
such a message could still be transferred to your Exchange Server
computer. Therefore, you should disable incoming newsfeeds from any NNTP
server that could let a user post a malicious message.
Impact of workaround: Exchange access to public newsgroup feeds will no
longer be possible.
FAQ for TNEF Decoding Vulnerability -
<http://www.cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2006-0002>
CVE-2006-0002:
What is the scope of the vulnerability?
This is a remote code execution vulnerability. An attacker who
successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of
an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change,
or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose
accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be
less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.
What causes the vulnerability?
Microsoft Exchange Server and Outlook both use the TNEF protocol. The
vulnerability lies in the fact that Outlook or Exchange decodes a
specially formed e-mail message that uses the TNEF protocol.
What is TNEF?
Transport Neutral Encapsulation (TNEF) is a format used by the Microsoft
Exchange Server and Outlook e-mail clients when sending messages formatted
as Rich Text Format (RTF). When Microsoft Exchange thinks that it is
sending a message to another Microsoft e-mail client, it extracts all the
formatting information and encodes it in a special TNEF block. It then
sends the message in two parts - the text message with the formatting
removed and the formatting instructions in the TNEF block. On the
receiving side, a Microsoft e-mail client processes the TNEF block and
re-formats the message
What might an attacker use the vulnerability to do?
An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take
complete control of the affected system.
Who could exploit the vulnerability?
Any anonymous user who could deliver a specially crafted message to a user
who is running Outlook or Exchange Server could try to exploit this
vulnerability.
What systems are primarily at risk from the vulnerability?
Workstations and Microsoft Exchange servers are primarily at risk. Servers
could be at more risk if users who do not have sufficient administrative
permissions are given the ability to log on to servers and to run
programs. However, best practices strongly discourage allowing this.
What does the update do?
The update removes the vulnerability by modifying the way that Outlook and
Microsoft Exchange Server validate the length of a message before it
passes the message to the allocated buffer.
When this security bulletin was issued, had this vulnerability been
publicly disclosed?
No. Microsoft received information about this vulnerability through
responsible disclosure. Microsoft had not received any information to
indicate that this vulnerability had been publicly disclosed when this
security bulletin was originally issued.
When this security bulletin was issued, had Microsoft received any reports
that this vulnerability was being exploited?
No. Microsoft had not received any information to indicate that this
vulnerability had been publicly used to attack customers and had not seen
any examples of proof of concept code published when this security
bulletin was originally issued.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The information has been provided by Microsoft Security.
The original article can be found at:
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS06-003.mspx>
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS06-003.mspx
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