syslog-ng buffer overflow

From: Holtzl Peter (holtzl.peterat_private)
Date: Thu Oct 10 2002 - 05:44:00 PDT

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    PACKAGE           : syslog-ng
    VERSION           : -1.4.15 (stable) and -1.5.20 (development)
    SUMMARY           : buffer overflow
    TYPE              : remote exploit
    VULNERABLE:       : exploitable (not in default configuration)
    ZORP-OS SPECIFIC  : No
    ZSA-AUTHOR        : Balazs Scheidler <balazs.scheidlerat_private>
    ZSA-ID            : ZSA-2002-014
    DATE:             : 2002-10-03 15:00
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
    BACKGROUND:
    
      Syslog-NG is a portable syslog implementation. Its highlights include 
      regexp based log selection, TCP transport and more.
      For more information: http://www.balabit.hu/en/downloads/syslog-ng/
    
      Zorp OS is a Debian GNU/Linux based operating system hardened for running 
      Zorp Professional modular application level firewall suite. Its core
      framework allows the administrator to finetune proxy decisions (with its
      built-in script language), and fully analyze complex protocols including
      SSL embedded protocols.
      For more information: http://www.balabit.hu/en/products/ZorpPro/
    
    DESCRIPTION:
    
      To make it easier to specify message destinations, syslog-ng supports
      macros in destination filenames as the following log snippet shows:
    
      destination d_messages_by_host {
            file("/var/log/$HOST/messages");
      };
    
      The same syntax is used when specifying the contents of destination files:
    
      destination d_special_messages {
            file("/var/log/messages" template("$ISODATE $HOST $MSG\n"));
      };
    
      The problem lies in the way macro expansion handles constant characters. 
      (ie everything other than macro references). As syslog-ng expands macros 
      it usesa buffer, and a variable called 'left', which contains the number of
      characters available in the buffer. When a constant character is appended,
      this variable is not decremented, thus when expanding macros incorrect
      bounds checking is performed.
    
    IMPACT:
    
      If templated filenames or templated output is used, it is possible to
      overflow a buffer. The number of bytes exceeding the allocated buffer
      depends on the exact template being used.
    
      It is believed that this overflow can be exploited, given enough constant
      characters are present in the template string.
    
    SOLUTION:
    
      Upgrade syslog-ng to 1.5.21 (devel) or 1.4.16 (stable) or apply the
      following patch:
    
    diff -u -r1.52 -r1.53
    --- affile.c    21 Aug 2002 14:03:50 -0000      1.52
    +++ affile.c    27 Sep 2002 09:11:33 -0000      1.53
    @@ -859,7 +859,7 @@
                    { "SOURCEIP", M_SOURCE_IP }
            };
            char format[cfg->log_msg_size + 1], *format_ptr = format;
    -       int left = sizeof(format);
    +       int left = sizeof(format) - 1;
            int i, j;
    
            i = 0;
    @@ -888,6 +888,7 @@
                            *format_ptr = template->data[i];
                            format_ptr++;
                            i++;
    +                       left--;
                    }
            }
            *format_ptr = 0;
    
    REFERENCES:
      
      1. http://www.balabit.hu/static/zsa/ZSA-2002-014-en.txt
      3. http://www.balabit.hu/en/downloads/syslog-ng/  
      3. http://www.balabit.hu/en/products/ZorpPro/
    
    
    Höltzl Péter
    
    BalaBit IT Kft          | Tel:   +36  1 371-0540 | GnuPG Fingerprint:
    holtzl.peterat_private | Mobil: +36 20 366-9667 | DB30 5E5B 8777 C06F 5A1F
    http://www.balabit.hu/  | Fax:   +36  1 208-0875 | 4586 CEAF 9678 4A89 CFD6
    



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