Detections
Analytics
VMSA-2010-0007 : VMware hosted products, vCenter Server and ESX patches resolve multiple security issues
critical Nessus Plugin ID 56246
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Synopsis
The remote VMware ESX host is missing a security-related patch.Description
a. Windows-based VMware Tools Unsafe Library Loading vulnerabilityA vulnerability in the way VMware libraries are referenced allows for arbitrary code execution in the context of the logged on user.
This vulnerability is present only on Windows Guest Operating Systems.
In order for an attacker to exploit the vulnerability, the attacker would need to lure the user that is logged on a Windows Guest Operating System to click on the attacker's file on a network share. This file could be in any file format. The attacker will need to have the ability to host their malicious files on a network share.
VMware would like to thank Jure Skofic and Mitja Kolsek of ACROS Security (http://www.acrossecurity.com) for reporting this issue to us.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2010-1141 to this issue.
Steps needed to remediate this vulnerability :
Guest systems on VMware Workstation, Player, ACE, Server, Fusion
- Install the remediated version of Workstation, Player, ACE, Server and Fusion.
- Upgrade tools in the virtual machine (virtual machine users will be prompted to upgrade).
Guest systems on ESX 4.0, 3.5, 3.0.3, 2.5.5, ESXi 4.0, 3.5
- Install the relevant patches (see below for patch identifiers)
- Manually upgrade tools in the virtual machine (virtual machine users will not be prompted to upgrade). Note the VI Client will not show the VMware tools is out of date in the summary tab.
Please see http://tinyurl.com/27mpjo page 80 for details.
b. Windows-based VMware Tools Arbitrary Code Execution vulnerability
A vulnerability in the way VMware executables are loaded allows for arbitrary code execution in the context of the logged on user. This vulnerability is present only on Windows Guest Operating Systems.
In order for an attacker to exploit the vulnerability, the attacker would need to be able to plant their malicious executable in a certain location on the Virtual Machine of the user. On most recent versions of Windows (XP, Vista) the attacker would need to have administrator privileges to plant the malicious executable in the right location.
Steps needed to remediate this vulnerability: See section 3.a.
VMware would like to thank Mitja Kolsek of ACROS Security (http://www.acrossecurity.com) for reporting this issue to us.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2010-1142 to this issue.
Refer to the previous table in section 3.a for what action remediates the vulnerability (column 4) if a solution is available. See above for remediation details.
c. Windows-based VMware Workstation and Player host privilege escalation
A vulnerability in the USB service allows for a privilege escalation. A local attacker on the host of a Windows-based Operating System where VMware Workstation or VMware Player is installed could plant a malicious executable on the host and elevate their privileges.
In order for an attacker to exploit the vulnerability, the attacker would need to be able to plant their malicious executable in a certain location on the host machine. On most recent versions of Windows (XP, Vista) the attacker would need to have administrator privileges to plant the malicious executable in the right location.
VMware would like to thank Thierry Zoller for reporting this issue to us.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2010-1140 to this issue.
d. Third-party library update for libpng to version 1.2.37
The libpng libraries through 1.2.35 contain an uninitialized- memory-read bug that may have security implications.
Specifically, 1-bit (2-color) interlaced images whose widths are not divisible by 8 may result in several uninitialized bits at the end of certain rows in certain interlace passes being returned to the user. An application that failed to mask these out-of-bounds pixels might display or process them, albeit presumably with benign results in most cases.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-2042 to this issue.
e. VMware VMnc Codec heap overflow vulnerabilities
The VMware movie decoder contains the VMnc media codec that is required to play back movies recorded with VMware Workstation, VMware Player and VMware ACE, in any compatible media player. The movie decoder is installed as part of VMware Workstation, VMware Player and VMware ACE, or can be downloaded as a stand alone package.
Vulnerabilities in the decoder allow for execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running an application utilizing the vulnerable codec.
For an attack to be successful the user must be tricked into visiting a malicious web page or opening a malicious video file on a system that has the vulnerable version of the VMnc codec installed.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the names CVE-2009-1564 and CVE-2009-1565 to these issues.
VMware would like to thank iDefense, Sebastien Renaud of VUPEN Vulnerability Research Team (http://www.vupen.com) and Alin Rad Pop of Secunia Research for reporting these issues to us.
To remediate the above issues either install the stand alone movie decoder or update your product using the table below.
f. VMware Remote Console format string vulnerability
VMware Remote Console (VMrc) contains a format string vulnerability.
Exploitation of this issue may lead to arbitrary code execution on the system where VMrc is installed.
For an attack to be successful, an attacker would need to trick the VMrc user into opening a malicious Web page or following a malicious URL. Code execution would be at the privilege level of the user.
VMrc is present on a system if the VMrc browser plug-in has been installed. This plug-in is required when using the console feature in WebAccess. Installation of the plug-in follows after visiting the console tab in WebAccess and choosing 'Install plug-in'. The plug- in can only be installed on Internet Explorer and Firefox.
Under the following two conditions your version of VMrc is likely to be affected :
- the VMrc plug-in was obtained from vCenter 4.0 or from ESX 4.0 without patch ESX400-200911223-UG and
- VMrc is installed on a Windows-based system
The following steps allow you to determine if you have an affected version of VMrc installed :
- Locate the VMrc executable vmware-vmrc.exe on your Windows-based system
- Right click and go to Properties
- Go to the tab 'Versions'
- Click 'File Version' in the 'Item Name' window
- If the 'Value' window shows 'e.x.p build-158248', the version of VMrc is affected
Remediation of this issue on Windows-based systems requires the following steps (Linux-based systems are not affected) :
- Uninstall affected versions of VMrc from the systems where the VMrc plug-in has been installed (use the Windows Add/Remove Programs interface)
- Install vCenter 4.0 Update 1 or install the ESX 4.0 patch ESX400-200911223-UG
- Login into vCenter 4.0 Update 1 or ESX 4.0 with patch ESX400-200911223-UG using WebAccess on the system where the VMrc needs to be re-installed
- Re-install VMrc by going to the console tab in WebAccess. The Console tab is selectable after selecting a virtual machine.
Note: the VMrc plug-in for Firefox on Windows-based operating systems is no longer compatible after the above remediation steps.
Users are advised to use the Internet Explorer VMrc plug-in.
VMware would like to thank Alexey Sintsov from Digital Security Research Group for reporting this issue to us.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-3732 to this issue.
g. Windows-based VMware authd remote denial of service
A vulnerability in vmware-authd could cause a denial of service condition on Windows-based hosts. The denial of service is limited to a crash of authd.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-3707 to this issue.
h. Potential information leak via hosted networking stack
A vulnerability in the virtual networking stack of VMware hosted products could allow host information disclosure.
A guest operating system could send memory from the host vmware-vmx process to the virtual network adapter and potentially to the host's physical Ethernet wire.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2010-1138 to this issue.
VMware would like to thank Johann MacDonagh for reporting this issue to us.
i. Linux-based vmrun format string vulnerability
A format string vulnerability in vmrun could allow arbitrary code execution.
If a vmrun command is issued and processes are listed, code could be executed in the context of the user listing the processes.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2010-1139 to this issue.
VMware would like to thank Thomas Toth-Steiner for reporting this issue to us.
Solution
Apply the missing patch.See Also
http://lists.vmware.com/pipermail/security-announce/2010/000091.html
Plugin Details
Severity: Critical
ID: 56246
File Name: vmware_VMSA-2010-0007.nasl
Version: 1.22
Type: local
Family: VMware ESX Local Security Checks
Published: 9/21/2011
Updated: 1/6/2021
Supported Sensors: Nessus
Risk Information
VPR
Risk Factor: Medium
Score: 6.7
CVSS v2
Risk Factor: Critical
Base Score: 10
Temporal Score: 7.8
Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
CVSS Score Source: CVE-2009-3732
Vulnerability Information
CPE: cpe:/o:vmware:esx:2.5.5, cpe:/o:vmware:esx:3.0.3, cpe:/o:vmware:esx:4.0
Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/VMware/release, Host/VMware/version
Exploit Available: true
Exploit Ease: Exploits are available
Patch Publication Date: 4/9/2010
Reference Information
CVE: CVE-2009-1564, CVE-2009-1565, CVE-2009-2042, CVE-2009-3707, CVE-2009-3732, CVE-2009-4811, CVE-2010-1138, CVE-2010-1139, CVE-2010-1140, CVE-2010-1141, CVE-2010-1142