Vulnerabilities > CVE-2008-4915 - Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls vulnerability in VMWare products

047910
CVSS 6.9 - MEDIUM
Attack vector
LOCAL
Attack complexity
MEDIUM
Privileges required
NONE
Confidentiality impact
COMPLETE
Integrity impact
COMPLETE
Availability impact
COMPLETE
local
vmware
CWE-264
nessus

Summary

The CPU hardware emulation in VMware Workstation 6.0.5 and earlier and 5.5.8 and earlier; Player 2.0.x through 2.0.5 and 1.0.x through 1.0.8; ACE 2.0.x through 2.0.5 and earlier, and 1.0.x through 1.0.7; Server 1.0.x through 1.0.7; ESX 2.5.4 through 3.5; and ESXi 3.5, when running 32-bit and 64-bit guest operating systems, does not properly handle the Trap flag, which allows authenticated guest OS users to gain privileges on the guest OS.

Vulnerable Configurations

Part Description Count
Application
Vmware
67

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

  • Accessing, Modifying or Executing Executable Files
    An attack of this type exploits a system's configuration that allows an attacker to either directly access an executable file, for example through shell access; or in a possible worst case allows an attacker to upload a file and then execute it. Web servers, ftp servers, and message oriented middleware systems which have many integration points are particularly vulnerable, because both the programmers and the administrators must be in synch regarding the interfaces and the correct privileges for each interface.
  • Leverage Executable Code in Non-Executable Files
    An attack of this type exploits a system's trust in configuration and resource files, when the executable loads the resource (such as an image file or configuration file) the attacker has modified the file to either execute malicious code directly or manipulate the target process (e.g. application server) to execute based on the malicious configuration parameters. Since systems are increasingly interrelated mashing up resources from local and remote sources the possibility of this attack occurring is high. The attack can be directed at a client system, such as causing buffer overrun through loading seemingly benign image files, as in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-028 where specially crafted JPEG files could cause a buffer overrun once loaded into the browser. Another example targets clients reading pdf files. In this case the attacker simply appends javascript to the end of a legitimate url for a pdf (http://www.gnucitizen.org/blog/danger-danger-danger/) http://path/to/pdf/file.pdf#whatever_name_you_want=javascript:your_code_here The client assumes that they are reading a pdf, but the attacker has modified the resource and loaded executable javascript into the client's browser process. The attack can also target server processes. The attacker edits the resource or configuration file, for example a web.xml file used to configure security permissions for a J2EE app server, adding role name "public" grants all users with the public role the ability to use the administration functionality. The server trusts its configuration file to be correct, but when they are manipulated, the attacker gains full control.
  • Blue Boxing
    This type of attack against older telephone switches and trunks has been around for decades. A tone is sent by an adversary to impersonate a supervisor signal which has the effect of rerouting or usurping command of the line. While the US infrastructure proper may not contain widespread vulnerabilities to this type of attack, many companies are connected globally through call centers and business process outsourcing. These international systems may be operated in countries which have not upgraded Telco infrastructure and so are vulnerable to Blue boxing. Blue boxing is a result of failure on the part of the system to enforce strong authorization for administrative functions. While the infrastructure is different than standard current applications like web applications, there are historical lessons to be learned to upgrade the access control for administrative functions.
  • Restful Privilege Elevation
    Rest uses standard HTTP (Get, Put, Delete) style permissions methods, but these are not necessarily correlated generally with back end programs. Strict interpretation of HTTP get methods means that these HTTP Get services should not be used to delete information on the server, but there is no access control mechanism to back up this logic. This means that unless the services are properly ACL'd and the application's service implementation are following these guidelines then an HTTP request can easily execute a delete or update on the server side. The attacker identifies a HTTP Get URL such as http://victimsite/updateOrder, which calls out to a program to update orders on a database or other resource. The URL is not idempotent so the request can be submitted multiple times by the attacker, additionally, the attacker may be able to exploit the URL published as a Get method that actually performs updates (instead of merely retrieving data). This may result in malicious or inadvertent altering of data on the server.
  • Target Programs with Elevated Privileges
    This attack targets programs running with elevated privileges. The attacker would try to leverage a bug in the running program and get arbitrary code to execute with elevated privileges. For instance an attacker would look for programs that write to the system directories or registry keys (such as HKLM, which stores a number of critical Windows environment variables). These programs are typically running with elevated privileges and have usually not been designed with security in mind. Such programs are excellent exploit targets because they yield lots of power when they break. The malicious user try to execute its code at the same level as a privileged system call.

Nessus

  • NASL familyVMware ESX Local Security Checks
    NASL idVMWARE_VMSA-2008-0018.NASL
    descriptiona. A privilege escalation on 32-bit and 64-bit guest operating systems VMware products emulate hardware functions and create the possibility to run guest operating systems. A flaw in the CPU hardware emulation might allow the virtual CPU to incorrectly handle the Trap flag. Exploitation of this flaw might lead to a privilege escalation on guest operating systems. An attacker needs a user account on the guest operating system and have the ability to run applications. VMware would like to thank Derek Soeder for discovering this issue and working with us on its remediation. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2008-4915 to this issue. b. Directory traversal vulnerability VirtualCenter allows administrators to have fine-grained privileges. A directory traversal vulnerability might allow administrators to increase these privileges. In order to leverage this flaw, the administrator would need to have the Datastore.FileManagement privilege. VMware would like to thank Michel Toussaint for reporting this issue to us. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2008-4281 to this issue.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id40385
    published2009-07-27
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2009-2018 Tenable Network Security, Inc.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/40385
    titleVMSA-2008-0018 : VMware Hosted products and patches for ESX and ESXi resolve two security issues
  • NASL familyWindows
    NASL idVMWARE_MULTIPLE_VMSA_2008_0018.NASL
    descriptionA VMware product installed on the remote host is affected by multiple vulnerabilities : - A CPU hardware emulation flaw in certain VMware products could allow a virtual CPU to incorrectly handle a Trap flag. Successful exploitation of this issue could lead to privilege escalation on the guest operating system. An attacker would need an account on the guest operating system and the ability to run applications to exploit this issue. (CVE-2008-4915) - By sending a malicious request from the guest operating system to the virtual hardware, it may be possible to cause the virtual hardware to write to an uncontrolled section in the physical memory. (CVE-2008-4917)
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id34818
    published2008-11-19
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2008-2018 Tenable Network Security, Inc.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/34818
    titleVMware Products Multiple Vulnerabilities (VMSA-2008-0018/VMSA-2008-0019)
  • NASL familyGentoo Local Security Checks
    NASL idGENTOO_GLSA-201209-25.NASL
    descriptionThe remote host is affected by the vulnerability described in GLSA-201209-25 (VMware Player, Server, Workstation: Multiple vulnerabilities) Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in VMware Player, Server, and Workstation. Please review the CVE identifiers referenced below for details. Impact : Local users may be able to gain escalated privileges, cause a Denial of Service, or gain sensitive information. A remote attacker could entice a user to open a specially crafted file, possibly resulting in the remote execution of arbitrary code, or a Denial of Service. Remote attackers also may be able to spoof DNS traffic, read arbitrary files, or inject arbitrary web script to the VMware Server Console. Furthermore, guest OS users may be able to execute arbitrary code on the host OS, gain escalated privileges on the guest OS, or cause a Denial of Service (crash the host OS). Workaround : There is no known workaround at this time.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id62383
    published2012-10-01
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2012-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/62383
    titleGLSA-201209-25 : VMware Player, Server, Workstation: Multiple vulnerabilities

Oval

accepted2010-05-17T04:00:14.254-04:00
classvulnerability
contributors
  • nameMichael Wood
    organizationHewlett-Packard
  • nameJ. Daniel Brown
    organizationDTCC
definition_extensions
  • commentVMWare ESX Server 3.0.3 is installed
    ovaloval:org.mitre.oval:def:6026
  • commentVMWare ESX Server 3.0.2 is installed
    ovaloval:org.mitre.oval:def:5613
  • commentVMware ESX Server 3.5.0 is installed
    ovaloval:org.mitre.oval:def:5887
descriptionThe CPU hardware emulation in VMware Workstation 6.0.5 and earlier and 5.5.8 and earlier; Player 2.0.x through 2.0.5 and 1.0.x through 1.0.8; ACE 2.0.x through 2.0.5 and earlier, and 1.0.x through 1.0.7; Server 1.0.x through 1.0.7; ESX 2.5.4 through 3.5; and ESXi 3.5, when running 32-bit and 64-bit guest operating systems, does not properly handle the Trap flag, which allows authenticated guest OS users to gain privileges on the guest OS.
familyunix
idoval:org.mitre.oval:def:6309
statusaccepted
submitted2009-09-23T15:39:02.000-04:00
titleVMware CPU Hardware Emulation Bug Lets Local Users Gain Elevated Privileges
version5

Seebug

bulletinFamilyexploit
descriptionBUGTRAQ ID: 32168 CVE(CAN) ID: CVE-2008-4915 VMWare是一款虚拟PC软件,允许在一台机器上同时运行两个或多个Windows、DOS、LINUX系统。 VMWare在处理指令的执行时存在问题,攻击者可能利用此漏洞提升自己的权限。如果在设置了Trap Flag的情况下出现中断,正确的CPU将执行转移到中断处理器之前会清除Trap Flag。对于受影响的VMware版本,如果内核态IRET设置了Trap Flag的话,则在执行单字节INT 3指令的时候Trap Flag在模式切换后仍继续存在,这造成的结果就是如果能够导致内核通过IRET设置Trap Flag的话,用户态代码在遇到INT 3断点(#BP)处理器的第一个指令的话会导致出现单步调试trap(#DB)。 VMWare Workstation 6.0.x VMWare Workstation 5.x VMWare ACE 2.0.x VMWare ACE 1.x VMWare Player 2.0.x VMWare Player 1.x VMWare Server 1.x VMWare ESX 3.5 VMWare ESX 3.0.3 VMWare ESX 3.0.2 VMWare ESX 3.0.1 VMWare ESXi 3.5 VMWare ------ 目前厂商已经发布了升级补丁以修复这个安全问题,请到厂商的主页下载: VMware Workstation 5.5.9 ------------------------ <a href=http://www.vmware.com/download/ws/ws5.html target=_blank>http://www.vmware.com/download/ws/ws5.html</a> Release notes: <a href=http://www.vmware.com/support/ws55/doc/releasenotes_ws55.html target=_blank>http://www.vmware.com/support/ws55/doc/releasenotes_ws55.html</a> Windows binary: md5sum: 509c7b323a8ac42c0a92b0a1446bb0f8 Compressed Tar archive for 32-bit Linux md5sum: 9d189e72f8111e44b27f1ee92edf265e Linux RPM version for 32-bit Linux md5sum: 0957c5258d033d0107517df64bfea240 VMware Player 1.0.9 ----------------------------- <a href=http://www.vmware.com/download/player/ target=_blank>http://www.vmware.com/download/player/</a> Release notes Player 1.x: <a href=http://www.vmware.com/support/player/doc/releasenotes_player.html target=_blank>http://www.vmware.com/support/player/doc/releasenotes_player.html</a> Windows binary md5sum: e2c8dd7b27df7d348f14f69de017b93f Player 1.0.9 for Linux (.rpm) md5sum: 471c3881fa60b058b1dac1d3c9c32c85 Player 1.0.9 for Linux (.tar) md5sum: bef507811698e7333f5e8cb672530dbf VMware ACE 1.0.8 ---------------- <a href=http://www.vmware.com/download/ace/ target=_blank>http://www.vmware.com/download/ace/</a> Release notes: <a href=http://www.vmware.com/support/ace/doc/releasenotes_ace.html target=_blank>http://www.vmware.com/support/ace/doc/releasenotes_ace.html</a> Windows binary md5sum: 920a08c2fcdeaedcb3258183817419a0 ACE 1.0.8 for Linux (.rpm) md5sum: 450254b73fa6802713136bf2c04e5b40 ACE 1.0.8 for Linux (.tar) md5sum: 5efdaccf8217b8d7875d3f35cd6159e0 VMware Server 1.0.8 ------------------- <a href=http://www.vmware.com/download/server/ target=_blank>http://www.vmware.com/download/server/</a> Release notes: <a href=http://www.vmware.com/support/server/doc/releasenotes_server.html target=_blank>http://www.vmware.com/support/server/doc/releasenotes_server.html</a> VMware Server for Windows 32-bit and 64-bit md5sum: 4ba41e5fa192f786121a7395ebaa8d7c VMware Server Windows client package md5sum: f25746e275ca00f28d44ad372fc92536 VMware Server for Linux md5sum: a476d3953ab1ff8457735e692fa5edf9 VMware Server for Linux rpm md5sum: af6890506618fa82928fbfba8a5f97e1 Management Interface md5sum: 5982b84a39479cabce63e12ab664d369 VMware Server Linux client package md5sum: 605d7db48f63211cc3f5ddb2b3f915a6 ESXi ---- ESXi 3.5 patch ESXe350-200810401-O-UG <a href=http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/ESXe350-200810401-O-UG.zip target=_blank>http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/ESXe350-200810401-O-UG.zip</a> md5sum: 9b83c54a005572bebb86652e3efd732a <a href=http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1007056 target=_blank>http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1007056</a> ESX --- ESX Server 3.5 update 3 CD image Refresh md5sum: e9bdaad2d37872820a4cad8e8dbde536 <a href=http://www.vmware.com/download/download.do?downloadGroup=ESX350U3 target=_blank>http://www.vmware.com/download/download.do?downloadGroup=ESX350U3</a> ESX Server 3.5 upgrade package from ESX Server 2.x to ESX Server 3.5 Update 3 Refresh md5sum:2da08fed15bd4b1ed5b19433e837591c <a href=http://www.vmware.com/download/download.do?downloadGroup=ESX350U3 target=_blank>http://www.vmware.com/download/download.do?downloadGroup=ESX350U3</a> ESX Server 3.5 upgrade package from ESX Server 3.0.x to ESX Server 3.5 Update 3 Refresh md5sum:d631aa8418d99fce4280fc3905ac4c37 <a href=http://www.vmware.com/download/download.do?downloadGroup=ESX350U3 target=_blank>http://www.vmware.com/download/download.do?downloadGroup=ESX350U3</a> ESX Server 3.5 upgrade package from ESX Server 3.5 to ESX Server 3.5 Update 3 Refresh md5sum:4dea5d943d0c0469c397b6520dfeb0fb <a href=http://www.vmware.com/download/download.do?downloadGroup=ESX350U3 target=_blank>http://www.vmware.com/download/download.do?downloadGroup=ESX350U3</a> ESX 3.5 patch ESX350-200810201-UG (vCPU/directory traversal) <a href=http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/ESX350-200810201-UG.zip target=_blank>http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/ESX350-200810201-UG.zip</a> md5sum: 6f26f985d9fea520ebdda7c65b60486e <a href=http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1007041 target=_blank>http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1007041</a> ESX 3.0.3 patch ESX303-200810501-BG (vCPU) <a href=http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/ESX303-200810501-BG.zip target=_blank>http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/ESX303-200810501-BG.zip</a> md5sum: da72f475c5ac038379d712d36307e33d <a href=http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1006969 target=_blank>http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1006969</a> ESX 3.0.2 patch ESX-1006680 (vCPU) <a href=http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/ESX-1006680.tgz target=_blank>http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/ESX-1006680.tgz</a> md5sum: 8186a2e77bc7c0e4cd5b214d0a5d29c0 <a href=http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1006680 target=_blank>http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1006680</a> VMware ESX 2.5.5 Upgrade Patch 10 <a href=http://download3.vmware.com/software/esx/esx-2.5.5-119702-upgrade.tar.gz target=_blank>http://download3.vmware.com/software/esx/esx-2.5.5-119702-upgrade.tar.gz</a> md5sum: 2ee87cdd70b1ba84751e24c0bd8b4621 <a href=http://vmware.com/support/esx25/doc/esx-255-200810-patch.html target=_blank>http://vmware.com/support/esx25/doc/esx-255-200810-patch.html</a> VMware ESX 2.5.4 Upgrade Patch 21 <a href=http://download3.vmware.com/software/esx/esx-2.5.4-119703-upgrade.tar.gz target=_blank>http://download3.vmware.com/software/esx/esx-2.5.4-119703-upgrade.tar.gz</a> md5sum: d791be525c604c852a03dd7df0eabf35 <a href=http://vmware.com/support/esx25/doc/esx-254-200810-patch.html target=_blank>http://vmware.com/support/esx25/doc/esx-254-200810-patch.html</a>
idSSV:4422
last seen2017-11-19
modified2008-11-11
published2008-11-11
reporterRoot
titleVMware产品Trap Flag处理本地权限提升漏洞