Wu-ftpd Vulnerability
Privacy and Legal Notice
INFORMATION BULLETIN
J-065: Wu-ftpd Vulnerability
September 1, 1999 23:00 GMT
PROBLEM: The WU-FTPD Development Group has been informed there is a
vulnerability in some versions of wu-ftpd.
PLATFORM: All platforms using:
wu-ftpd-2.4.2-beta-18-vr4 through wu-ftpd-2.4.2-beta-18-vr15
wu-ftpd-2.4.2-vr16 and wu-ftpd-2.4.2-vr17
wu-ftpd-2.5.0
BeroFTPD, all present versions
Other derivatives of wu-ftpd may be effected.
DAMAGE: Exploiting this vulnerability may lead to a root compromise.
SOLUTION: Upgrade to latest version and apply patch.
VULNERABILITY Risk is high. Exploit information involving this vulnerability
ASSESSMENT: has been made publicly available. This vulnerability can
lead to a root compromise.
[ Start WU-FTPD Development Group Advisory ]
WU-FTPD Security Update
The WU-FTPD Development Group has been informed there is a vulnerability in
some versions of wu-ftpd.
This vulnerability may allow local & remote users to gain root privileges.
Exploit information involving this vulnerability has been made publicly
available.
The WU-FTPD Development Group recommends sites take the steps outlined
below as soon as possible.
1. Description
Due to insufficient bounds checking on directory name lengths which can
be supplied by users, it is possible to overwrite the static memory
space of the wu-ftpd daemon while it is executing under certain
configurations. By having the ability to create directories and
supplying carefully designed directory names to the wu-ftpd, users may
gain privileged access.
2. Impact
This vulnerability may allow local & remote users to gain root
privileges.
3. Workarounds/Solution
Sites may prevent the exploitation of the vulnerability in wu-ftpd by
immediately upgrading and applying available patches.
3.1 Affected versions
Versions known to be effected are:
wu-ftpd-2.4.2-beta-18-vr4 through wu-ftpd-2.4.2-beta-18-vr15
wu-ftpd-2.4.2-vr16 and wu-ftpd-2.4.2-vr17
wu-ftpd-2.5.0
BeroFTPD, all present versions
Other derivatives of wu-ftpd may be effected. See the workarrounds
(section 3.3) to determine if a derivative is vulnerable.
Versions know to be not effected are:
NcFTPd, all versions.
wu-ftpd-2.4.2 (final, from Academ)
All Washington University versions.
(Please note: ALL versions of WU-FTPD prior to
wu-ftpd-2.4.2-beta-18-vr10 including all WU versions, and all
Academ 2.4.1 and 2.4.2 betas, are vulnerable to a remote user
root-leveraging attack. See CERT Advisory CA-99-03 'FTP Buffer
Overflows' at
http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-99-03-FTP-Buffer-Overflows.html
and section 3.2)
3.2 Upgrade to latest wu-ftpd and apply patch
The latest version of wu-ftpd from the WU-FTPD Development Group is
2.5.0; sites running earlier versions should upgrade to this version as
soon as possible.
The WU-FTPD Development Group has a patch available which corrects this
vulnerabililty. The patch is available directly from the WU-FTPD
Development Group's primary distribution site, and will be propogating
to its mirrors shortly.
Several other patches to version 2.5.0 are also available. The WU-FTPD
Development Group recommends all available patches be applied.
Patches for version 2.5.0 are available at the primary distribution
site:
ftp://ftp.wu-ftpd.org/pub/wu-ftpd/quickfixes/apply_to_2.5.0/
The following patches are available:
CRITICAL-SECURITY.PATCH
[ End WU-FTPD Development Group Advisory ]
CIAC wishes to acknowledge the contributions of WU-FTPD Development Group for
the information contained in this bulletin.
CIAC services are available to DOE, DOE Contractors, and the NIH. CIAC
can be contacted at:
Voice: +1 925-422-8193 (7 x 24)
FAX: +1 925-423-8002
STU-III: +1 925-423-2604
E-mail: ciac@ciac.org
World Wide Web: http://www.ciac.org/
Anonymous FTP: ftp.ciac.org
This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an
agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States
Government nor the University of California nor any of their
employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any
legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or
usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process
disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately
owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial products,
process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or
otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement,
recommendation or favoring by the United States Government or the
University of California. The views and opinions of authors expressed
herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States
Government or the University of California, and shall not be used for
advertising or product endorsement purposes.
UCRL-MI-119788
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