[VulnWatch] WebEx Downloader Plug-in Multiple Vulnerabilities + rant

From: Mark Litchfield (mark@private)
Date: Fri Jul 07 2006 - 09:58:52 PDT


All these vulnerabilities were reported to WebEx by NGS Software back on the 
24th February 2005 along with some other issues.

The current Director of the X-Force new about these issues as at the time of 
their discovery, he worked with NGS.

Seeing as I'm the subject, here is another example whereby I found a bug (in 
Skype) except Pentest-Limited were credited with it's discovery - 
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/25/skype_vuln/  An extract from an 
email below from Kurt Sauer (Security Operations / Skype Technologies), 
shows that Mark Rowe of Pentest Ltd for some unknown reason had access to my 
email sent to Kurt.

In reviewing our mail archives, I see that you *DID* report the vuln (the
VCARD aspect) to us -- to ME, directly -- before Mark Rowe did.  However, I
(gulp) mishandled the e-mail.

As you surmised, it appears that Mark Rowe read that mail and found another
instantiation of the same bug, namely the handling of the command-line
parameters.

Completely my fault on that.  It will take one "push" cycle (typically less
than a day) to get a correction posted, but I will both correct our
announcement and also redistribute it with corrected attribution.

I should have asked you to CC security@private on the actual vuln report,
because mail sent to that address is read by more than just me.

Importantly, I am going to hire a dedicated incident manager (as fast as
our hiring practices will allow) so that there is someone spending full
workdays just handing inbound messages on this topic.


Could never be bothered before to make an issue of it.  But to sit on a 
large number of flaws in a vendors software product for 498 days and see 
other companies credited is a tad annoying :)

All the best

Mark Litchfield

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Litchfield" <>
To: "Mark Litchfield" <mark@private>
Sent: Friday, July 07, 2006 4:12 PM
Subject: Fw: [SA20956] WebEx Downloader Plug-in Multiple Vulnerabilities


> You're not credited - are any of these yours?
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Secunia Security Advisories" <sec-adv@private>
> To: <>
> Sent: Friday, July 07, 2006 12:32 PM
> Subject: [SA20956] WebEx Downloader Plug-in Multiple Vulnerabilities
>
>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Reverse Engineer Wanted
>>
>> Secunia offers a Security Specialist position with emphasis on
>> reverse engineering of software and exploit code, auditing of
>> source code, and analysis of vulnerability reports.
>>
>> http://secunia.com/secunia_security_specialist/
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> TITLE:
>> WebEx Downloader Plug-in Multiple Vulnerabilities
>>
>> SECUNIA ADVISORY ID:
>> SA20956
>>
>> VERIFY ADVISORY:
>> http://secunia.com/advisories/20956/
>>
>> CRITICAL:
>> Highly critical
>>
>> IMPACT:
>> System access
>>
>> WHERE:
>> From remote
>>
>> SOFTWARE:
>> WebEx Downloader plug-in 2.x
>> http://secunia.com/product/10916/
>>
>> DESCRIPTION:
>> Some vulnerabilities have been reported in WebEx Downloader plug-in,
>> which can be exploited by malicious people to compromise a user's
>> system.
>>
>> 1) An error exists in the ActiveX and Java versions of the WebEx
>> Downloader plug-in where the source of downloaded components is not
>> properly verified. This can be exploited to install malicious
>> components on a user's system.
>>
>> Successful exploitation allows execution of arbitrary code, but
>> requires that the user e.g. is tricked into visiting a malicious web
>> site.
>>
>> The vulnerability has been reported in version 2.0.0.7. Other
>> versions may also be affected.
>>
>> 2) Some unspecified boundary errors in an included ActiveX control
>> can be exploited to cause a buffer overflow.
>>
>> Successful exploitation may allow execution of arbitrary code.
>>
>> SOLUTION:
>> Apply update.
>> http://www.webex.com/go/downloadSP30
>>
>> PROVIDED AND/OR DISCOVERED BY:
>> 1) Discovered by an anonymous person and reported via ZDI.
>> 1-2) David Dewey and Mark Dowd, ISS X-Force.
>>
>> ORIGINAL ADVISORY:
>> WebEx Communications:
>> http://www.webex.com/lp/security/ActiveAdv.html?TrackID=123456
>>
>> Zero Day Initiative:
>> http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-06-021.html
>>
>> ISS X-Force:
>> http://xforce.iss.net/xforce/alerts/id/226
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> About:
>> This Advisory was delivered by Secunia as a free service to help
>> everybody keeping their systems up to date against the latest
>> vulnerabilities.
>>
>> Subscribe:
>> http://secunia.com/secunia_security_advisories/
>>
>> Definitions: (Criticality, Where etc.)
>> http://secunia.com/about_secunia_advisories/
>>
>>
>> Please Note:
>> Secunia recommends that you verify all advisories you receive by
>> clicking the link.
>> Secunia NEVER sends attached files with advisories.
>> Secunia does not advise people to install third party patches, only
>> use those supplied by the vendor.
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Unsubscribe: Secunia Security Advisories
>> http://secunia.com/sec_adv_unsubscribe/?email=davidl%40ngssoftware.com
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>
> 



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