Vulnerability Note VU#340420

IBM Access Support ActiveX control stack buffer overflow

Overview

The IBM Access Support ActiveX control contains a stack buffer overflow, which may allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable system.

I. Description

The IBM Access Support ActiveX control has the ability to collect system information, such as make, model, serial number, OS version, etc. This control is available on the IBM / Lenovo web site, and also may come pre-installed on IBM and Lenovo computer systems. The IBM Access Support ActiveX control, which is provided by IbmEgath.dll, contains a stack buffer overflow in the GetXMLValue() method. We have confirmed that version 3.20.284.0 is vulnerable. Other versions may also contain the flaw.

II. Impact

By convincing a user to view a specially crafted HTML document (e.g., a web page or an HTML email message or attachment), an attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user. The attacker could also cause Internet Explorer (or the program using the WebBrowser control) to crash.

III. Solution

We are currently unaware of a practical solution to this problem. Please consider the following workarounds:

Disable the IBM Access Support ActiveX control in Internet Explorer

The vulnerable ActiveX control can be disabled in Internet Explorer by setting the kill bit for the following CLSID:

{74FFE28D-2378-11D5-990C-006094235084}

More information about how to set the kill bit is available in Microsoft Support Document 240797. Alternatively, the following text can be saved as a .REG file and imported to set the kill bit for this control:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftInternet ExplorerActiveX Compatibility{74FFE28D-2378-11D5-990C-006094235084}]
"Compatibility Flags"=dword:00000400

Disable ActiveX

Disabling ActiveX controls in the Internet Zone (or any zone used by an attacker) appears to prevent exploitation of this and other ActiveX vulnerabilities. Instructions for disabling ActiveX in the Internet Zone can be found in the "Securing Your Web Browser" document.

Systems Affected

Vendor	Status	Date Notified	Date Updated
IBM Corporation	Vulnerable	2008-08-22	2009-02-05
Lenovo	Vulnerable	2008-08-22	2009-02-05

References

http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/380277
http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/securing_browser/
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/240797

Credit

Thanks to Chris Weber of Casaba Security for reporting this vulnerability.

This document was written by Will Dormann.

Other Information

Date Public:	2009-03-24
Date First Published:	2009-03-24
Date Last Updated:	2009-03-25
CERT Advisory:
CVE-ID(s):	CVE-2009-0215
NVD-ID(s):	CVE-2009-0215
US-CERT Technical Alerts:
Metric:	3.36
Document Revision:	15