Heap-based buffer overflow in the wordwrap function in PHP after 4.1.2 and before 4.3.0 may allow attackers to cause a denial of service or execute arbitrary code.

A buffer overflow was discovered in the wordwrap() function in versions of PHP greater than 4.1.2 and less than 4.3.0. Under certain circumstances, this buffer overflow can be used to overwite heap memory and could potentially lead to remote system compromise.

The remote host is missing the patch for the advisory SUSE-SA:2003:0009 (mod_php4).


The Apache module mod_php4 supports the widely used Web scripting language PHP.
Under some special circumstances a buffer overflow can be triggered in mod_php4's wordwrap() function. This buffer overflow can be used to overwrite heap memory and possibly can lead to remote system compromise.
Just mod_php4 versions greater than 4.1.2 and less than 4.3.0 are vulnerable. This affects SUSE LINUX 8.1 and all SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 8 based products.

There is no temporary fix known. Please install the new packages from our FTP servers.

After updating the mod_php4 module has to be reloaded by Apache.
This can be done by restarting the apache webserver using the following command as root:
rcapache restart

Please download the update package for your distribution and verify its integrity by the methods listed in section 3) of this announcement.
Then, install the package using the command 'rpm -Fhv file.rpm' to apply the update.

The remote host is running a version of PHP that is older than 4.3.3.

All versions of PHP 4 older than 4.3.3 contain multiple integer overflow vulnerabilities that may allow an attacker to execute arbitrary commands on this host.  Another problem may also invalidate safe_mode.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
14004	Mandrake Linux Security Advisory : php (MDKSA-2003:019)	Nessus	Mandriva Local Security Checks	high
13774	SUSE-SA:2003:0009: mod_php4	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	high
11850	PHP < 4.3.3 Multiple Vulnerabilities	Nessus	CGI abuses	high

Detections

Analytics

CVE-2002-1396

critical

Tenable Plugins

high

high

high