10 - VMSA-2010-0007

a. Windows-based VMware Tools Unsafe Library Loading vulnerability

A vulnerability in the way VMware libraries are referenced allows for arbitrary code execution in the context of the logged on user. This vulnerability is present only on Windows Guest Operating Systems.

In order for an attacker to exploit the vulnerability, the attacker would need to lure the user that is logged on a Windows Guest Operating System to click on the attacker's file on a network share. This file could be in any file format. The attacker will need to have the ability to host their malicious files on a network share.

VMware would like to thank Jure Skofic and Mitja Kolsek of ACROS Security (http://www.acrossecurity.com) for reporting this issue to us.

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2010-1141 to this issue.

Steps needed to remediate this vulnerability:

Guest systems on VMware Workstation, Player, ACE, Server, Fusion - Install the remediated version of Workstation, Player, ACE, Server and Fusion. - Upgrade tools in the virtual machine (virtual machine users will be prompted to upgrade).

Guest systems on ESX 4.0, 3.5, 3.0.3, 2.5.5, ESXi 4.0, 3.5 - Install the relevant patches (see below for patch identifiers) - Manually upgrade tools in the virtual machine (virtual machine users will not be prompted to upgrade). Note the VI Client will not show the VMware tools is out of date in the summary tab. Please see http://tinyurl.com/27mpjo page 80 for details.

b. Windows-based VMware Tools Arbitrary Code Execution vulnerability

A vulnerability in the way VMware executables are loaded allows for arbitrary code execution in the context of the logged on user. This vulnerability is present only on Windows Guest Operating Systems.

In order for an attacker to exploit the vulnerability, the attacker would need to be able to plant their malicious executable in a certain location on the Virtual Machine of the user. On most recent versions of Windows (XP, Vista) the attacker would need to have administrator privileges to plant the malicious executable in the right location.

Steps needed to remediate this vulnerability: See section 3.a.

VMware would like to thank Mitja Kolsek of ACROS Security (http://www.acrossecurity.com) for reporting this issue to us.

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2010-1142 to this issue.

Refer to the previous table in section 3.a for what action remediates the vulnerability (column 4) if a solution is available. See above for remediation details.

c. Windows-based VMware Workstation and Player host privilege escalation

A vulnerability in the USB service allows for a privilege escalation. A local attacker on the host of a Windows-based Operating System where VMware Workstation or VMware Player is installed could plant a malicious executable on the host and elevate their privileges.

In order for an attacker to exploit the vulnerability, the attacker would need to be able to plant their malicious executable in a certain location on the host machine. On most recent versions of Windows (XP, Vista) the attacker would need to have administrator privileges to plant the malicious executable in the right location.

VMware would like to thank Thierry Zoller for reporting this issue to us.

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2010-1140 to this issue.

c. Windows-based VMware Workstation and Player host privilege escalation

A vulnerability in the USB service allows for a privilege escalation. A local attacker on the host of a Windows-based Operating System where VMware Workstation or VMware Player is installed could plant a malicious executable on the host and elevate their privileges.

In order for an attacker to exploit the vulnerability, the attacker would need to be able to plant their malicious executable in a certain location on the host machine. On most recent versions of Windows (XP, Vista) the attacker would need to have administrator privileges to plant the malicious executable in the right location.

VMware would like to thank Thierry Zoller for reporting this issue to us.

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2010-1140 to this issue.

d. Third party library update for libpng to version 1.2.37

The libpng libraries through 1.2.35 contain an uninitialized- memory-read bug that may have security implications. Specifically, 1-bit (2-color) interlaced images whose widths are not divisible by 8 may result in several uninitialized bits at the end of certain rows in certain interlace passes being returned to the user. An application that failed to mask these out-of-bounds pixels might display or process them, albeit presumably with benign results in most cases.

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-2042 to this issue.

e. VMware VMnc Codec heap overflow vulnerabilities

The VMware movie decoder contains the VMnc media codec that is required to play back movies recorded with VMware Workstation, VMware Player and VMware ACE, in any compatible media player. The movie decoder is installed as part of VMware Workstation, VMware Player and VMware ACE, or can be downloaded as a stand alone package.

Vulnerabilities in the decoder allow for execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running an application utilizing the vulnerable codec.

For an attack to be successful the user must be tricked into visiting a malicious web page or opening a malicious video file on a system that has the vulnerable version of the VMnc codec installed.

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the names CVE-2009-1564 and CVE-2009-1565 to these issues.

VMware would like to thank iDefense, Sebastien Renaud of VUPEN Vulnerability Research Team (http://www.vupen.com) and Alin Rad Pop of Secunia Research for reporting these issues to us.

To remediate the above issues either install the stand alone movie decoder or update your product using the table below.

g. Windows-based VMware authd remote denial of service

A vulnerability in vmware-authd could cause a denial of service condition on Windows-based hosts. The denial of service is limited to a crash of authd.

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2009-3707 to this issue.

h. Potential information leak via hosted networking stack

A vulnerability in the virtual networking stack of VMware hosted products could allow host information disclosure.

A guest operating system could send memory from the host vmware-vmx process to the virtual network adapter and potentially to the host's physical Ethernet wire.

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2010-1138 to this issue.

VMware would like to thank Johann MacDonagh for reporting this issue to us.

i. Linux-based vmrun format string vulnerability

A format string vulnerability in vmrun could allow arbitrary code execution.

If a vmrun command is issued and processes are listed, code could be executed in the context of the user listing the processes.

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2010-1139 to this issue.

VMware would like to thank Thomas Toth-Steiner for reporting this issue to us.