iDefense Security Advisory 12.24.07 http://labs.idefense.com/intelligence/vulnerabilities/ Dec 24, 2007 I. BACKGROUND Novell ZENworks Endpoint Security Management (ESM) Security Client provides centrally managed, policy based firewall protection for clients. It is designed to be installed on all workstations within the enterprise. More information is available on the vendor's site at the following URL. http://www.novell.com/products/zenworks/endpointsecuritymanagement/ II. DESCRIPTION Local exploitation of a privilege escalation vulnerability in Novell ZENworks Endpoint Security Management allows attackers to execute arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges. When the ZENworks ESM Security Client is installed on a workstation, the STEngine service is set to run under the local SYSTEM account. This service is implemented within the following executable. File Name: STEngine.exe (1,847,296 bytes) Version: 3.5.0.20 MD5: B5402A1EC8D04130304EBA89AF843916 The service provides functionality for any user to generate a diagnostic report in order to aid in product troubleshooting. During report generation, STEngine attempts to execute various scripts by spawning command shells to gather system information. These scripts are dynamically generated in a directory which all users may write to. STEngine will also attempt to locate a command shell in this directory and execute it if it is found. If a malicious local user places a binary named "cmd.exe" in this directory, STEngine will execute it with SYSTEM level privileges. III. ANALYSIS Exploitation allows unprivileged local users to take complete control of the affected system. Exploitation is trivial and does not require any special tools or coding ability. If an attacker desires an interactive command prompt, a small wrapper application will be required in order to ensure that the command window is visible after execution. IV. DETECTION iDefense has confirmed the existence of this vulnerability in STEngine.exe version 3.5.0.20 as included with Novell Inc's ZENworks Endpoint Security Management 3.5. Other versions may also be affected. V. WORKAROUND iDefense is unaware of any effective workaround for this issue. VI. VENDOR RESPONSE Novell has addressed this vulnerability by releasing version 3.5.0.82 of Endpoint Security Management. To download this new version, visit the following URL. http://download.novell.com/Download?buildid=5Y6xbs-OKLE~ VII. CVE INFORMATION The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project has assigned the name CVE-2007-5665 to this issue. This is a candidate for inclusion in the CVE list (http://cve.mitre.org/), which standardizes names for security problems. VIII. DISCLOSURE TIMELINE 09/24/2007 Initial vendor notification 09/25/2007 Initial vendor response 12/24/2007 Coordinated public disclosure IX. CREDIT This vulnerability was reported to iDefense by Stephen Fewer of Harmony Security (www.harmonysecurity.com). Get paid for vulnerability research http://labs.idefense.com/methodology/vulnerability/vcp.php Free tools, research and upcoming events http://labs.idefense.com/ X. LEGAL NOTICES Copyright © 2008 iDefense, Inc. Permission is granted for the redistribution of this alert electronically. It may not be edited in any way without the express written consent of iDefense. If you wish to reprint the whole or any part of this alert in any other medium other than electronically, please e-mail customerservice@private for permission. Disclaimer: The information in the advisory is believed to be accurate at the time of publishing based on currently available information. Use of the information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition. There are no warranties with regard to this information. Neither the author nor the publisher accepts any liability for any direct, indirect, or consequential loss or damage arising from use of, or reliance on, this information.
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