iDefense Security Advisory 05.27.08: EMC AlphaStor Library Manager Arbitrary Command Execution Vulnerability
iDefense Security Advisory 05.27.08
http://labs.idefense.com/intelligence/vulnerabilities/
May 27, 2008
I. BACKGROUND
AlphaStor is a suite of applications used for disk management. For more
information, please see the vendor's website found at the following
link.
http://www.emc.com/products/detail/software/alphastor.htm
II. DESCRIPTION
Remote exploitation of an arbitrary command execution vulnerability in
EMC Corp.'s AlphaStor could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code
with SYSTEM privileges.
AlphaStor consists of multiple applications, one of which is the Library
Manager. The Library Manager is used to manage the replacement of disk
drives in distributed locations. The Manager consists of a single
process, the "robotd" process, that listens on TCP port 3500 for
incoming connections.
The Library Manager is prone to an arbitrary command execution
vulnerability. When sent a specific request, "robotd" will use a string
from the packet as a command to execute on the system via the
CreateProcess() function. This allows an attacker to run arbitrary
programs on the host with SYSTEM privileges.
III. ANALYSIS
Exploitation of this vulnerability results in the execution of arbitrary
code with the privileges of the affected service, usually SYSTEM. The
vulnerability occurs before any authentication, so it can be exploited
by anonymous attackers with the ability to create a TCP connection to
port 3500 on the server.
Since the vulnerability allows an attacker to run arbitrary programs
with arbitrary arguments, little skill is required for exploitation.
IV. DETECTION
iDefense has confirmed the existence of this vulnerability in AlphaStor
version 3.1 SP1 for Windows. Previous versions, as well as versions for
other platforms, may also be affected.
V. WORKAROUND
iDefense is currently unaware of any workarounds for this issue.
VI. VENDOR RESPONSE
"EMC has issued updates to correct this issue. More details can be found
in knowledgebase article emc186391 available from powerlink.emc.com. EMC
customers can further contact EMC Software Technical Support at
1-877-534-2867."
VII. CVE INFORMATION
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project has assigned the
name CVE-2008-2157 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
04/16/2008 Initial vendor response
04/16/2008 Initial vendor notification
05/27/2008 Coordinated public disclosure
IX. CREDIT
This vulnerability was reported to iDefense by Stephen Fewer of Harmony
Security (www.harmonysecurity.com).
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X. LEGAL NOTICES
Copyright © 2008 iDefense, Inc.
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at the time of publishing based on currently available information. Use
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