ncurses TERMCAP Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

BID:1142

Info

ncurses TERMCAP Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

Bugtraq ID: 1142
Class: Boundary Condition Error
CVE: CVE-2000-0963
Remote: No
Local: Yes
Published: Apr 23 2000 12:00AM
Updated: Jul 11 2009 01:56AM
Credit: Posted to Bugtraq by Przemyslaw Frasunek <[email protected]> on April 23, 2000.
Vulnerable: Wirex Immunix OS 7.0 -Beta
Wirex Immunix OS 6.2
Redhat ncurses-devel-5.0-11.i386.rpm
+ Redhat Linux 6.2
 Redhat ncurses-5.1-2.i386.rpm
+ Redhat Linux 7.0
Redhat ncurses-5.0-11.i386.rpm
+ Redhat Linux 6.2
 Redhat Linux 7.0
Redhat Linux 6.2 sparc
Redhat Linux 6.2 i386
Redhat Linux 6.2 alpha
FreeBSD FreeBSD 4.1.1 -STABLE
FreeBSD FreeBSD 4.1.1
FreeBSD FreeBSD 4.1
FreeBSD FreeBSD 4.0
FreeBSD FreeBSD 3.5.1
FreeBSD FreeBSD 3.4
Not Vulnerable: NetBSD NetBSD 1.4.2
FreeBSD FreeBSD 5.0

Discussion

ncurses TERMCAP Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

The port of ncurses (a high-level terminal manipulation library) for FreeBSD (and quite likely other operating systems) included in earlier releases is vulnerable to a buffer overflow attack. If the TERMCAP environment variable contains more data than the maximum amount predefined in the library source, unchecked operations on it can result in the stack being overrun. The result is that any setuid programs linked to ncurses can be exploited via this vulnerability. Version 1.8.6 of ncurses (which shipped with FreeBSD 3.4-RELEASE is known to be vulnerable.

It has been confirmed that NetBSD is not vulnerable.

Exploit / POC

ncurses TERMCAP Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

Currently the SecurityFocus staff are not aware of any exploits for this issue. If you feel we are in error or are aware of more recent information, please mail us at: [email protected].

Solution / Fix

ncurses TERMCAP Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

Solution:
RedHat has released patches to fix this vulnerability.

FreeBSD has provided an ncurses upgrade but advises that users do the following to make sure they are vulnerable before upgrading:

1) Download the 'scan_ncurses.sh' and 'test_ncurses.sh' scripts from

ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/CERT/tools/SA-00:68/scan_ncurses.sh
ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/CERT/tools/SA-00:68/test_ncurses.sh

e.g. with the fetch(1) command:

# fetch ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/CERT/tools/SA-00:68/scan_ncurses.sh
Receiving scan_ncurses.sh (381 bytes): 100%
381 bytes transferred in 0.1 seconds (7.03 kBps)
# fetch ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/CERT/tools/SA-00:68/test_ncurses.sh
Receiving test_ncurses.sh (604 bytes): 100%
604 bytes transferred in 0.1 seconds (6.55 kBps)

2) Verify the md5 checksums and compare to the value below:

# md5 scan_ncurses.sh
MD5 (scan_ncurses.sh) = 597f63af701253f053581aa1821cbac1
# md5 test_ncurses.sh
MD5 (test_ncurses.sh) = 12491ceb15415df7682e3797de53223e

3) Run the scan_ncurses.sh script against your system:

# chmod a+x ./test_ncurses.sh
# sh scan_ncurses.sh ./test_ncurses.sh /

Caldera:

The proper solution is to upgrade to the fixed packages.

OpenLinux Desktop 2.3

Location of Fixed Packages

The upgrade packages can be found on Caldera's FTP site at:
ftp://ftp.calderasystems.com/pub/updates/OpenLinux/2.3/current/RPMS/
The corresponding source code package can be found at:
ftp://ftp.calderasystems.com/pub/updates/OpenLinux/2.3/current/SRPMS


Redhat ncurses-5.0-11.i386.rpm

Redhat ncurses-devel-5.0-11.i386.rpm

Redhat ncurses-5.1-2.i386.rpm

FreeBSD FreeBSD 3.5.1

FreeBSD FreeBSD 4.0

FreeBSD FreeBSD 4.1

FreeBSD FreeBSD 4.1.1 -STABLE

FreeBSD FreeBSD 4.1.1

Wirex Immunix OS 6.2

Redhat Linux 6.2 sparc

Redhat Linux 6.2 alpha

Redhat Linux 6.2 i386

Redhat Linux 7.0

Wirex Immunix OS 7.0 -Beta

References

ncurses TERMCAP Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

References:
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