ZDI-11-117: McAfee Firewall Reporter GeneralUtilities.pm isValidClient Authentication Bypass Vulnerability http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-11-117 April 11, 2011 -- CVSS: 10, (AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C) -- Affected Vendors: McAfee -- Affected Products: McAfee Firewall Reporter -- TippingPoint(TM) IPS Customer Protection: TippingPoint IPS customers have been protected against this vulnerability by Digital Vaccine protection filter ID 10522. For further product information on the TippingPoint IPS, visit: http://www.tippingpoint.com -- Vulnerability Details: This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable installations of McAfee Firewall Reporter. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the code responsible for authenticating users. The GernalUtilities.pm file contains code to validate sessions by parsing cookie values without sanitization. The faulty logic simply checks for the existence of a particular file, without verifying its contents. By using a directory traversal technique an attacker can point the cgisess cookie value to an arbitrary file that exists on the server and thus bypass authentication. -- Vendor Response: McAfee states: Fixed February 9, 2011 Bulletin modified April 11, 2011: https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=SB10015 -- Disclosure Timeline: 2010-09-22 - Vulnerability reported to vendor 2011-04-11 - Coordinated public release of advisory -- Credit: This vulnerability was discovered by: * Andrea Micalizzi aka rgod -- About the Zero Day Initiative (ZDI): Established by TippingPoint, The Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) represents a best-of-breed model for rewarding security researchers for responsibly disclosing discovered vulnerabilities. Researchers interested in getting paid for their security research through the ZDI can find more information and sign-up at: http://www.zerodayinitiative.com The ZDI is unique in how the acquired vulnerability information is used. TippingPoint does not re-sell the vulnerability details or any exploit code. Instead, upon notifying the affected product vendor, TippingPoint provides its customers with zero day protection through its intrusion prevention technology. Explicit details regarding the specifics of the vulnerability are not exposed to any parties until an official vendor patch is publicly available. Furthermore, with the altruistic aim of helping to secure a broader user base, TippingPoint provides this vulnerability information confidentially to security vendors (including competitors) who have a vulnerability protection or mitigation product. Our vulnerability disclosure policy is available online at: http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/disclosure_policy/ Follow the ZDI on Twitter: http://twitter.com/thezdi