----------------------------------------------------------------------

Ovum says ad hoc tools are out-dated. The best practice approach?
Fast vulnerability intelligence, threat handling, and setup in one tool.

Read the new report on the Secunia VIM:
http://secunia.com/products/corporate/vim/ovum_2011_request/ 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

TITLE:
PHP "is_a()" Change in Functional Behaviour Security Issue

SECUNIA ADVISORY ID:
SA46107

VERIFY ADVISORY:
Secunia.com
http://secunia.com/advisories/46107/
Customer Area (Credentials Required)
https://ca.secunia.com/?page=viewadvisory&vuln_id=46107

RELEASE DATE:
2011-09-26

DISCUSS ADVISORY:
http://secunia.com/advisories/46107/#comments

AVAILABLE ON SITE AND IN CUSTOMER AREA:
 * Last Update
 * Popularity
 * Comments
 * Criticality Level
 * Impact
 * Where
 * Solution Status
 * Operating System / Software
 * CVE Reference(s)

http://secunia.com/advisories/46107/

ONLY AVAILABLE IN CUSTOMER AREA:
 * Authentication Level
 * Report Reliability
 * Secunia PoC
 * Secunia Analysis
 * Systems Affected
 * Approve Distribution
 * Remediation Status
 * Secunia CVSS Score
 * CVSS

https://ca.secunia.com/?page=viewadvisory&vuln_id=46107

ONLY AVAILABLE WITH SECUNIA CSI AND SECUNIA PSI:
 * AUTOMATED SCANNING

http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/
http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/corporate/wsus_sccm_3rd_third_party_patching/

DESCRIPTION:
A security issue has been reported in PHP, which potentially can be
exploited by malicious people to compromise a vulnerable system.

The security issue is caused due to a change in the behaviour of the
"is_a()" function when receiving strings as first argument, which can
lead to the "__autoload()" function being called unexpectedly. In
context of certain applications that rely on PHP's previous behaviour
and do not properly verify input in their "__autoload()" function,
this change can open up unexpected attack vectors, which can
potentially be exploited to e.g. execute arbitrary PHP code by
including arbitrary files from remote resources.

The security issue is reported in version 5.3.7 and 5.3.8. Other
versions may also be affected.

SOLUTION:
Fixed in the SVN repository.

PROVIDED AND/OR DISCOVERED BY:
Reported in a PHP bug by Mads, gartneriet.dk.

ORIGINAL ADVISORY:
https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=55475
http://www.byte.nl/blog/2011/09/23/security-bug-in-is_a-function-in-php-5-3-7-5-3-8/

OTHER REFERENCES:
Further details available in Customer Area:
http://secunia.com/vulnerability_intelligence/

DEEP LINKS:
Further details available in Customer Area:
http://secunia.com/vulnerability_intelligence/

EXTENDED DESCRIPTION:
Further details available in Customer Area:
http://secunia.com/vulnerability_intelligence/

EXTENDED SOLUTION:
Further details available in Customer Area:
http://secunia.com/vulnerability_intelligence/

EXPLOIT:
Further details available in Customer Area:
http://secunia.com/vulnerability_intelligence/

----------------------------------------------------------------------

About:
This Advisory was delivered by Secunia as a free service to help
private users keeping their systems up to date against the latest
vulnerabilities.

Subscribe:
http://secunia.com/advisories/secunia_security_advisories/

Definitions: (Criticality, Where etc.)
http://secunia.com/advisories/about_secunia_advisories/


Please Note:
Secunia recommends that you verify all advisories you receive by
clicking the link.
Secunia NEVER sends attached files with advisories.
Secunia does not advise people to install third party patches, only
use those supplied by the vendor.

----------------------------------------------------------------------