Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS98-012) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Updates available for Security Vulnerabilities in Microsoft PPTP Originally Posted: August 18, 1998 Last Revised: August 18, 1998 Summary Microsoft has released a set of patches that fix several security issues with implementations of the Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) used in Microsoft Virtual Private Networking (VPN) products. Customers using affected software listed below to secure communcations over a public network (i.e. the Internet) should download and apply these patches as soon as possible. Customers who are not using PPTP for network security are not affected by this issue. Issue The Microsoft implementation of PPTP uses MS-CHAP for user authentication and Microsoft Point-to-Point Encryption (MPPE) to protect the confidentiality of user data. Potential vulnerabilities addressed by these updates include: * Dictionary attack against the LAN Manager authentication information * Password theft * PPTP server spoofing * Reuse of MPPE session keys While there have not been any reports of customers being adversely affected by these problems, Microsoft is releasing these patches to address the implied risks posed by these issues. Affected Software Versions The following software is affected by this vulnerability: * Microsoft Dialup Networking 1.2x and earlier on Windows 95 * Microsoft Remote Access Services on Windows NT 4.0 (both client and server) * Microsoft Routing and Remote Access Services on Windows NT Server 4.0 * Microsoft Windows 98 Dialup Networking What Microsoft is Doing On August 18th Microsoft released a set of patches that fix the problems identified. These patches are available for download by Windows NT, Windows 95 and Windows 98 customers from the Microsoft FTP site. Microsoft has sent this security bulletin to customers subscribing to the Microsoft Product Security Notification Service (see http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletin.htm for more information about this free customer service). Microsoft has published the following Knowledge Base (KB) articles on this issue: * Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article Q154091, Windows 95 Dial-Up Networking 1.3 Upgrade Release Notes http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q154/0/91.asp * Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article Q189594, RRAS Hotfix 3.0 http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q189/5/94.asp * Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article Q189595, Windows NT 4.0 PPTP Security Update http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q189/5/95.asp * Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article Q189771, Windows 98 PPTP Security Update http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q189/7/71.asp What customers should do Microsoft highly recommends that users of affected software versions, listed in the "Affected Software Versions" section above, should download the appropriate patch. Complete URLs for each affected software version is given below. Windows NT 4.0 RAS Users Download the patch from: * ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-public/fixes/usa/NT40/hotfixes-postSP3/pptp3-fix/ Windows NT 4.0 RRAS Users Download the patch from: * ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-public/fixes/usa/NT40/hotfixes-postSP3/rras30-fix/ Windows 95 Users Download the patch from: * ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/softlib/mslfiles/msdun13.exe Windows 98 Users Download the patch from: * ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/softlib/mslfiles/dun40.exe Strong Encryption Versions (128-bit) Customers in the United States and Canada can download the strong encryption versions of these updates from: * http://mssecure.www.conxion.com/cgi-bin/ntitar.pl More Information Please see the following references for more information related to this issue. * Microsoft Security Bulletin MS98-012, Updates available for Security Vulnerabilities in Microsoft PPTP, (the Web posted version of this bulletin), http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/ms98-012.htm * Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article Q154091, Windows 95 Dial-Up Networking 1.3 Upgrade Release Notes http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q154/0/91.asp * Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article Q189594, RRAS Hotfix 3.0 http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q189/5/94.asp * Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article Q189595, Windows NT 4.0 PPTP Security Update http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q189/5/95.asp * Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article Q189771, Windows 98 PPTP Security Update http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q189/7/71.asp Revisions * August 18, 1998: Bulletin Created For additional security-related information about Microsoft products, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/security ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY. © 1998 Microsoft and/or its suppliers. All rights reserved. For Terms of Use see http://support.microsoft.com/support/misc/cpyright.asp.