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Security Advisory: (BEA04-62.00)

From: BEA Systems Inc.

Minor Subject: A remedy is available to prevent unexpected user identity

Product(s) Affected: WebLogic Server and WebLogic Express

Threat level: Low – this vulnerability requires a single client JVM to log into WebLogic Server more than once using RMI over the IIOP protocol.

Severity: Low – there is the potential one user could execute an RMI method under the wrong identity

Recently a problem was identified that could potentially cause a security vulnerability in certain versions of WebLogic Server and WebLogic Express. Patches are available to correct this problem (see Section II). BEA System treats potential security problems with the highest degree of urgency and does everything possible to ensure the security of all customer assets. As a result, BEA systems strongly suggests the following actions:

I. Read the following advisory.
II. Apply the suggested action.
III. If you know of any additional users interested in future security advisories, please forward them the registration instructions below.

I. Advisory

This vulnerability can occur when a client logs into WebLogic Server multiple times as different users. The documentation describes the behavior of the client when RMI requests are made when there is no current user associated with the client’s thread. While correct for RMI over T3, this description is incorrect for RMI over the IIOP protocol and any client that relied on the documented behavior may get an unexpected user identity in an RMI call.

The remedy below updates the documentation to address this vulnerability.

The following versions of WebLogic Server and WebLogic Express are affected by this vulnerability.

II. SUGGESTED ACTION

BEA strongly recommends the following course of actions:

BEA strongly suggests that customers apply the remedies recommended in all our security advisories. BEA also urges customers to apply every Service Pack as they are released. Service Packs include a roll-up of all bug fixes for each version of the product, as well as each of the prior Service Packs. Service Packs and information about them can be found at:

http://commerce.beasys.com/downloads/weblogic_server.jsp#wls

Note: Information about securing WebLogic Server and WebLogic Express can be found at http://e-docs.bea.com/wls/docs81/security.html, Specific lockdown information is provided at http://e-docs.bea.com/wls/docs81/lockdown/index.html. We strongly encourage you to review this documentation to ensure your server deployment is securely configured.

III. FUTURE SECURITY COMMUNICATIONS

As a corporate policy, if there are any security-related issues with any BEA product, BEA Systems will distribute an advisory and instructions with the appropriate course of action. Because the security of your site, data, and code is our highest priority, we are committed to communicating all security-related issues clearly and openly.

All previous advisories and notifications can be viewed at http://dev2dev.bea.com/advisories/

BEA Systems has established an opt-in emailing list specifically targeted for product security advisories and notifications. As a policy, if a user has opted-in to our emailing list and there are any security issues with the BEA product(s) he/she is using, BEA will distribute an advisory and instructions via email with the appropriate course of action.

ADDITIONAL USERS WHO WISH TO REGISTER FOR ADVISORY DISTRIBUTION SHOULD FOLLOW THE REGISTRATION DIRECTIONS AT http://dev2dev.bea.com/advisories

IV. REPORTING SECURITY ISSUES

Security issues can be reported to BEA by sending email to secalert@bea.com or by following the directions at http://dev2dev.bea.com/advisories/. All reports of security issues will be promptly reviewed and all necessary actions taken to ensure the continued security of all customer assets.

If you have any questions or care to verify the authenticity of this advisory, please contact BEA Technical Support at support@bea.com

Thank you,
BEA Systems, Inc.