DarkFiber Consulting – IT Managed Services

Microsoft has released Security Advisory 979352 to alert users of a vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer. The advisory indicates that exploitation of this vulnerability may allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code. Microsoft also indicates that it is aware of public, active exploitation of this vulnerability.

DarkFiber Consulting encourages users and administrators to review Microsoft Security Advisory 979352 and apply the suggested workaround of setting the Internet zone security setting to High to help mitigate the risks.

Additional information about this vulnerability can be found in Vulnerability Note VU#492515.

Foxit Reader has released updates for multiple vulnerabilities. By convincing a user to open a malicious PDF file, an attacker may be able to execute code or cause a vulnerable PDF viewer to crash. The PDF could be emailed as an attachment or hosted on a website.

DarkFiber Consulting encourages users to review the Foxit Security Bulletin and Vulnerability Note VU#251793 and apply any necessary updates.

Microsoft has released Security Advisory 958963 to alert users that exploit code is publicly available for the Windows Server Service vulnerability addressed in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-067. The advisory states that this exploit code has demonstrated arbitrary code execution on Windows 2000, XP and Server 2003.

DarkFiber Consulting encourages users and administrators to review Microsoft Security Advisory 958963 and apply the update or workarounds listed in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-067 to help mitigate the risks.

Additional information regarding the Windows Server Service vulnerability is available in:

• Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-067
• Vulnerability Note VU#827268
• Current Activity Entry – Microsoft Releases Out-of-Band Security Bulletin MS08-067

In June, DarkFiber Consulting published Vulnerability Note VU#476345 to alert users of a vulnerability affecting Citect CitectSCADA. This vulnerability is due to a buffer overflow condition in the handling of ODBC requests from clients. Exploit code for this vulnerability is publicly available and exploitation may allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code.

DarkFiber Consulting encourages users to review Vulnerability Note VU#476345 and apply the patch as described in the document.

Oracle has released a patch to address a previously disclosed vulnerability in the WebLogic plug-in for Apache. This vulnerability may allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial-of-service condition.

DarkFiber Consulting encourages users to consider applying the patch and workarounds referenced in the Oracle Security Advisory and in Vulnerability Note VU#716387.

Apple has released Security Update 2008-005 to address multiple vulnerabilities that affect a number of applications. These vulnerabilities may allow an attacker to conduct DNS cache poisoning attacks, execute arbitrary code, cause a denial-of-service condition, or access the affected system with elevated privileges. Please note that this update addresses recent issues with weaknesses in common DNS implementations; see Vulnerability Note VU#800113 for additional information.

DarkFiber Consulting encourages users to review Apple Article HT2647 and apply any necessary updates as soon as possible to help mitigate the risks.

DarkFiber Consulting is aware of publicly available exploit code for a cache poisoning vulnerability in common DNS implementations. Exploitation of this vulnerability may allow an attacker to cause a nameserver’s clients to contact the incorrect, and possibly malicious hosts for particular services. As a result, web traffic, email and other important network data could be redirected to systems under the attacker’s control.

DarkFiber Consulting strongly urges administrators to patch affected systems immediately. Please review the following DarkFiber Consulting documents for further details:

• Current Activity – DNS Implementations Vulnerable to Cache Poisoning
• Current Activity – NAT/PAT Affects DNS Cache Poisoning Mitigation
• Vulnerability Note VU#800113 – Multiple DNS implementations vulnerable to cache poisoning
• Technical Cyber Security Alert TA08-190B – Multiple DNS implementations vulnerable to cache poisoning

DarkFiber Consulting will provide additional information as it becomes available.

DarkFiber Consulting released a Current Activity entry and a Vulnerability Note on July 8, 2008 regarding deficiencies in DNS implementations. These deficiencies could leave an affected system vulnerable to cache poisoning. Technical details regarding this vulnerability have been posted to public websites. Attackers could use these details to construct exploit code. Users are encouraged to patch systems or apply workarounds immediately.

A number of patches implement source port randomization in the name server as a way to reduce the practicality of cache poisoning attacks. Administrators should be aware that in infrastructures where nameservers exist behind Network Address Translation (NAT) and Port Address Translation (PAT) devices, port randomization in the nameserver may be overwritten by the NAT/PAT device and a sequential port address could be allocated. This may weaken the protection offered by source port randomization in the nameserver.

DarkFiber Consulting encourages users to consider one of the following workarounds:

• Place the nameserver outside of the NAT/PAT device in the network infrastructure.
• Configure the NAT/PAT device to perform source port randomization.
• Configure the NAT/PAT device to preserve the source port assigned by the nameserver.

Additional information can be found in DarkFiber Consulting Vulnerability Note VU#800113.

More information will be provided as it becomes available.