Re: Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS99-051) (fwd)

From: Jim Knoble (jmknobleat_private)
Date: Mon Nov 29 1999 - 19:09:34 PST

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    På 1999-Nov-29 klokka 17:42:36 -0800 skrivet Ben Greenbaum:
    
    : ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    : Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 17:18:19 -0800
    : From: Microsoft Product Security <secnotifat_private>
    : To: MICROSOFT_SECURITYat_private
    : Subject: Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS99-051)
    :
    : The following is a Security  Bulletin from the Microsoft Product Security
    : Notification Service.
    :
    : Please do not  reply to this message,  as it was sent  from an unattended
    : mailbox.
    :                     ********************************
    :
    : Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS99-051)
    : --------------------------------------
    :
    : Patch Available for "IE Task Scheduler" Vulnerability
    : Originally Posted: November 29, 1999
    
      [...]
    
    : Issue
    : =====
    
      [...]
    
    : The IE 5 Task Scheduler controls who can create and submit "AT jobs." The
    : utility that is used to create AT jobs can only be run by an administrator,
    : and the Task Scheduler will only execute AT jobs that are owned by
    : administrators. However, if a malicious user had change access to an
    : existing file owned by an administrator (it would not need to be an AT job),
    : he or she could modify it to be a valid AT job and place in the appropriate
    : folder for execution. This would bypass the control mechanism and allow the
    : job to be executed.
    :
    : This vulnerability would primarily affect machines that allow normal users
    : to interactively log onto them. The patch eliminates this vulnerability by
    : digitally signing all AT jobs at creation time, and verifying the signature
    : at execution time.
    
    Is this really a solution to the problem?  It seems to me that the
    actual problem is this part
    
        if a malicious user had change access to an existing file owned by
        an administrator (it would not need to be an AT job), he or she
        could modify it to be a valid AT job and place in the appropriate
        folder for execution[....]
    
    Isn't that true for most files to which a malicious user has `change'
    access?
    
    Regardless of that, how does the patch stop malicious users from
    producing AT jobs that have valid signatures and putting them in place?
    
      [...]
    
    : More Information
    : ================
    : Please see the following references for more information related to this
    : issue.
    :  - Microsoft Security Bulletin MS99-051: Frequently Asked Questions,
    :    http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/MS99-051faq.asp.
    
    This URL produces the following text:
    
        Microsoft VBScript runtime error `800a000d'
    
        Type mismatch: `CInt'
    
        /security/inc/scripts.txt, line 279
    
    but only with JavaScript turned on.  Without JavaScript, the page is
    utterly blank.
    
    :  - Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article Q246972,
    :    IE 5 Task Scheduler Allows Privilege Elevation on Windows NT Systems,
    :    http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q245/7/29.asp.
    :    (NOTE: It may take 24 hours from the original posting of this bulletin
    :    for this KB article to be visible)
    
    This URL gets me to a KB item entitled `Windows 95 and Windows 98 File
    Access URL Update', which has nothing to do with Q246972.
    
    :  - Microsoft Security Advisor web site,
    :    http://www.microsoft.com/security/default.asp.
    
    This URL produces the following text:
    
        Microsoft VBScript runtime error `800a000d'
    
        Type mismatch: `CInt'
    
        /security/inc/scripts.txt, line 279
    
    Is there anywhere that has some actual information about this?
    
    --
    jim knoble
    jmknobleat_private
    



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