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Home > Products and services > CSIRTUK advisories > Advisories archive > December 2005 > iDefense - Ipswitch advisories

December 2005

iDefense - Ipswitch advisories

ID: 01077
Ref: 1011/2005
Date: 07 December 2005:21:10:33
Version: 1

Title: iDefense - Ipswitch advisories
Abstract: Details of issues concerning Ipswitch
Vendors affected: Ipswitch
Applications affected: Ipswitch

Ipswitch Collaboration Suite SMTP Format String Vulnerability

iDEFENSE Security Advisory 12.06.05
www.idefense.com/application/poi/display?id=346&type=vulnerabilities
December 6, 2005

I. BACKGROUND

Ipswitch Collaboration Suite provides e-mail and real-time
collaboration, calendar and contact list sharing, and protection from
spam and viruses, all delivered in an easy to use suite.

http://www.ipswitch.com/products/collaboration/index.asp

II. DESCRIPTION

Remote exploitation of a format string vulnerability in Ipswitch
IMail allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code.

The vulnerability specifically exists due to improper use of functions
which allow format specifiers in the SMTP service included with ICS.
Remote attackers can supply format string values to certain string
functions to cause memory corruption leading to remote code execution.
The vulnerability may be exploited by supplying specially crafted
strings to any of the following SMTP commands: EXPN, MAIL, MAIL FROM,
RCPT TO. All of the commands are handled by the same function which
parses user-supplied input strings. The following debugger session
shows a backtrace with user-supplied strings as values. With properly
constructed input value, the strings would be interpreted as memory
addresses that would be executed upon returning from the current
function.

[..]
00A7F370 006020A0
00A7F374 00A7F634 ASCII 5B,"192.168.242.1] MAIL
FROM:C:\apps\Ipswitch\Collaboration
Suite\IMail\spool\T94e8013e00000005"
00A7F378 00000000
00A7F37C 00000000
00A7F380 7C34FC0B RETURN to MSVCR71.7C34FC0B from MSVCR71.write_char
00A7F384 00602048
00A7F388 00A7F648 ASCII 20,"FROM:C:\apps\Ipswitch\Collaborat"
[..]

III. ANALYSIS

Successful exploitation of the format string vulnerability allows
unauthenticated remote attackers to execute arbitrary code. Ipswitch
mail services are commonly configured to allow untrusted access. The
use of a firewall or other mitigating strategy is highly recommended
due to the nature of this vulnerability. The IMail SMTP server is
installed by default.

IV. DETECTION

iDEFENSE Labs has confirmed the existence of this vulnerability in
Ipswitch Collaboration Suite 8.20.

V. WORKAROUND

iDEFENSE is currently unaware of any effective workarounds for this
issue. Access to the affected host should be filtered at the network
boundary if global accessibility is not required. Restricting access to
only trusted hosts and networks may reduce the likelihood of
exploitation.

VI. VENDOR RESPONSE

Ipswitch Collaboration Suite 2.02 has been released to address this
issue and is available for download at:

http://www.ipswitch.com/support/ics/updates/ics202.asp

IMail Server 8.22 has been released to address this issue and is
available for download at:


http://www.ipswitch.com/support/imail/releases/imail_professional/im822.asp

VII. CVE INFORMATION

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project has assigned the
name CAN-2005-2931 to this issue. This is a candidate for inclusion in
the CVE list (http://cve.mitre.org), which standardizes names for
security problems.

VIII. DISCLOSURE TIMELINE

09/08/2005 Initial vendor notification
09/13/2005 Initial vendor response
10/06/2005 Coordinated public disclosure

IX. CREDIT

iDEFENSE credits Nico with the discovery of this vulnerability.

Get paid for vulnerability research
http://www.idefense.com/poi/teams/vcp.jsp

Free tools, research and upcoming events
http://labs.idefense.com

X. LEGAL NOTICES

Copyright C 2005 iDEFENSE, Inc.

Permission is granted for the redistribution of this alert
electronically. It may not be edited in any way without the express
written consent of iDEFENSE. If you wish to reprint the whole or any
part of this alert in any other medium other than electronically, please
email customerservice@idefense.com for permission.

Disclaimer: The information in the advisory is believed to be accurate
at the time of publishing based on currently available information. Use
of the information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition.
There are no warranties with regard to this information. Neither the
author nor the publisher accepts any liability for any direct, indirect,
or consequential loss or damage arising from use of, or reliance on,
this information.

**********************************************************************

Ipswitch IMail IMAP List Command DoS Vulnerability

iDEFENSE Security Advisory 12.06.05
www.idefense.com/application/poi/display?id=347&type=vulnerabilities
December 6, 2005

I. BACKGROUND

Ipswitch Imail Server is an email server that is part of the IpSwitch
Collaboration suit. Imail Supports POP3, SMTP, IMAP and web based email
access. More Information can be located on the vendor's site at:

http://www.ipswitch.com/Products/collaboration/index.html

II. DESCRIPTION

Remote exploitation of a denial of service (DoS) vulnerability in
Ipswitch Inc.'s Imail IMAP server allows attackers to crash the target
service, thereby preventing legitimate use.

The problem specifically exists in handling long arguments to the LIST
command. When a LIST command of approximately 8000 bytes is supplied,
internal string parsing routines can be manipulated in such a way as to
reference non-allocated sections of memory. This parsing error results
in an unhandled access violation, forcing the daemon to exit.

III. ANALYSIS

Exploitation allows remote attackers to crash vulnerable IMAP servers
and thereby prevent legitimate usage. The LIST command is only available
post authentication and therefore valid credentials are required to
exploit this vulnerability.

IV. DETECTION

iDEFENSE has confirmed the existence of this vulnerability in Ipswitch
IMail 8.2.

V. WORKAROUND

As this vulnerability is exploited after authentication occurs, ensuring
that only trusted users have accounts can mitigate the risk somewhat. As
a more effective workaround, consider limiting access to the IMAP server
by filtering TCP port 143. If possible, consider disabling IMAP and
forcing users to use POP3.

VI. VENDOR RESPONSE

Ipswitch Collaboration Suite 2.02 has been released to address this
issue and is available for download at:

http://www.ipswitch.com/support/ics/updates/ics202.asp

IMail Server 8.22 Patch has been released to address this issue and is
available for download at:

http://www.ipswitch.com/support/imail/releases/imail_professional/im822.asp

VII. CVE INFORMATION

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project has assigned the
name CAN-2005-2923 to this issue. This is a candidate for inclusion in
the CVE list (http://cve.mitre.org), which standardizes names for
security problems.

VIII. DISCLOSURE TIMELINE

09/08/2005 Initial vendor notification
09/13/2005 Initial vendor response
10/06/2005 Coordinated public disclosure

IX. CREDIT

Sebastian Apelt is credited with discovering this vulnerability.

Get paid for vulnerability research
http://www.idefense.com/poi/teams/vcp.jsp

Free tools, research and upcoming events
http://labs.idefense.com

X. LEGAL NOTICES

Copyright C 2005 iDEFENSE, Inc.

Permission is granted for the redistribution of this alert
electronically. It may not be edited in any way without the express
written consent of iDEFENSE. If you wish to reprint the whole or any
part of this alert in any other medium other than electronically, please
email customerservice@idefense.com for permission.

Disclaimer: The information in the advisory is believed to be accurate
at the time of publishing based on currently available information. Use
of the information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition.
There are no warranties with regard to this information. Neither the
author nor the publisher accepts any liability for any direct, indirect,
or consequential loss or damage arising from use of, or reliance on,
this information.

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