Vulnerabilities > CVE-2012-2118 - Improper Input Validation vulnerability in X.Org X11 1.11

047910
CVSS 10.0 - CRITICAL
Attack vector
NETWORK
Attack complexity
LOW
Privileges required
NONE
Confidentiality impact
COMPLETE
Integrity impact
COMPLETE
Availability impact
COMPLETE
network
low complexity
x-org
CWE-20
critical
nessus
NVD
Published: 2012-05-18
Updated: 2017-08-29

Summary

Format string vulnerability in the LogVHdrMessageVerb function in os/log.c in X.Org X11 1.11 allows attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly execute arbitrary code via format string specifiers in an input device name.

Vulnerable Configurations

Part Description Count
Application
X.Org
1

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

  • Buffer Overflow via Environment Variables
    This attack pattern involves causing a buffer overflow through manipulation of environment variables. Once the attacker finds that they can modify an environment variable, they may try to overflow associated buffers. This attack leverages implicit trust often placed in environment variables.
  • Server Side Include (SSI) Injection
    An attacker can use Server Side Include (SSI) Injection to send code to a web application that then gets executed by the web server. Doing so enables the attacker to achieve similar results to Cross Site Scripting, viz., arbitrary code execution and information disclosure, albeit on a more limited scale, since the SSI directives are nowhere near as powerful as a full-fledged scripting language. Nonetheless, the attacker can conveniently gain access to sensitive files, such as password files, and execute shell commands.
  • Cross Zone Scripting
    An attacker is able to cause a victim to load content into their web-browser that bypasses security zone controls and gain access to increased privileges to execute scripting code or other web objects such as unsigned ActiveX controls or applets. This is a privilege elevation attack targeted at zone-based web-browser security. In a zone-based model, pages belong to one of a set of zones corresponding to the level of privilege assigned to that page. Pages in an untrusted zone would have a lesser level of access to the system and/or be restricted in the types of executable content it was allowed to invoke. In a cross-zone scripting attack, a page that should be assigned to a less privileged zone is granted the privileges of a more trusted zone. This can be accomplished by exploiting bugs in the browser, exploiting incorrect configuration in the zone controls, through a cross-site scripting attack that causes the attackers' content to be treated as coming from a more trusted page, or by leveraging some piece of system functionality that is accessible from both the trusted and less trusted zone. This attack differs from "Restful Privilege Escalation" in that the latter correlates to the inadequate securing of RESTful access methods (such as HTTP DELETE) on the server, while cross-zone scripting attacks the concept of security zones as implemented by a browser.
  • Cross Site Scripting through Log Files
    An attacker may leverage a system weakness where logs are susceptible to log injection to insert scripts into the system's logs. If these logs are later viewed by an administrator through a thin administrative interface and the log data is not properly HTML encoded before being written to the page, the attackers' scripts stored in the log will be executed in the administrative interface with potentially serious consequences. This attack pattern is really a combination of two other attack patterns: log injection and stored cross site scripting.
  • Command Line Execution through SQL Injection
    An attacker uses standard SQL injection methods to inject data into the command line for execution. This could be done directly through misuse of directives such as MSSQL_xp_cmdshell or indirectly through injection of data into the database that would be interpreted as shell commands. Sometime later, an unscrupulous backend application (or could be part of the functionality of the same application) fetches the injected data stored in the database and uses this data as command line arguments without performing proper validation. The malicious data escapes that data plane by spawning new commands to be executed on the host.

Nessus

  • NASL familyMandriva Local Security Checks
    NASL idMANDRIVA_MDVSA-2013-139.NASL
    descriptionThis fixes a format string vulnerability in the LogVHdrMessageVerb function in os/log.c when handling input device names in X.Org X11 server (CVE-2012-2118). MBS1 is not vulnerable to arbitrary code execution via this vulnerability because of the compiler options that were used to build it, but it can still cause a crash.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id66151
    published2013-04-20
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2013-2019 Tenable Network Security, Inc.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/66151
    titleMandriva Linux Security Advisory : x11-server (MDVSA-2013:139)
    code
    #%NASL_MIN_LEVEL 80502

#
# (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc.
#
# The descriptive text and package checks in this plugin were  
# extracted from Mandriva Linux Security Advisory MDVSA-2013:139. 
# The text itself is copyright (C) Mandriva S.A.
#

include("compat.inc");

if (description)
{
  script_id(66151);
  script_version("1.5");
  script_cvs_date("Date: 2019/08/02 13:32:55");

  script_cve_id("CVE-2012-2118");
  script_bugtraq_id(53150);
  script_xref(name:"MDVSA", value:"2013:139");
  script_xref(name:"MGASA", value:"2012-0299");

  script_name(english:"Mandriva Linux Security Advisory : x11-server (MDVSA-2013:139)");
  script_summary(english:"Checks rpm output for the updated packages");

  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"synopsis", 
    value:
"The remote Mandriva Linux host is missing one or more security
updates."
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"description", 
    value:
"This fixes a format string vulnerability in the LogVHdrMessageVerb
function in os/log.c when handling input device names in X.Org X11
server (CVE-2012-2118).

MBS1 is not vulnerable to arbitrary code execution via this
vulnerability because of the compiler options that were used to build
it, but it can still cause a crash."
  );
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"solution", value:"Update the affected packages.");
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C");
  script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:F/RL:OF/RC:ND");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"Exploits are available");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploit_available", value:"true");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:x11-server");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:x11-server-common");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:x11-server-devel");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:x11-server-source");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:x11-server-xdmx");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:x11-server-xephyr");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:x11-server-xfake");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:x11-server-xfbdev");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:x11-server-xnest");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:x11-server-xorg");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:mandriva:linux:x11-server-xvfb");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:mandriva:business_server:1");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2013/04/10");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2013/04/20");
  script_end_attributes();

  script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
  script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2013-2019 Tenable Network Security, Inc.");
  script_family(english:"Mandriva Local Security Checks");

  script_dependencies("ssh_get_info.nasl");
  script_require_keys("Host/local_checks_enabled", "Host/cpu", "Host/Mandrake/release", "Host/Mandrake/rpm-list");

  exit(0);
}


include("audit.inc");
include("global_settings.inc");
include("rpm.inc");


if (!get_kb_item("Host/local_checks_enabled")) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_ENABLED);
if (!get_kb_item("Host/Mandrake/release")) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Mandriva / Mandake Linux");
if (!get_kb_item("Host/Mandrake/rpm-list")) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING);

cpu = get_kb_item("Host/cpu");
if (isnull(cpu)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_ARCH);
if (cpu !~ "^(amd64|i[3-6]86|x86_64)$") audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_IMPLEMENTED, "Mandriva / Mandrake Linux", cpu);


flag = 0;
if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS1", cpu:"x86_64", reference:"x11-server-1.11.4-12.1.mbs1")) flag++;
if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS1", cpu:"x86_64", reference:"x11-server-common-1.11.4-12.1.mbs1")) flag++;
if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS1", cpu:"x86_64", reference:"x11-server-devel-1.11.4-12.1.mbs1")) flag++;
if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS1", reference:"x11-server-source-1.11.4-12.1.mbs1")) flag++;
if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS1", cpu:"x86_64", reference:"x11-server-xdmx-1.11.4-12.1.mbs1")) flag++;
if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS1", cpu:"x86_64", reference:"x11-server-xephyr-1.11.4-12.1.mbs1")) flag++;
if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS1", cpu:"x86_64", reference:"x11-server-xfake-1.11.4-12.1.mbs1")) flag++;
if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS1", cpu:"x86_64", reference:"x11-server-xfbdev-1.11.4-12.1.mbs1")) flag++;
if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS1", cpu:"x86_64", reference:"x11-server-xnest-1.11.4-12.1.mbs1")) flag++;
if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS1", cpu:"x86_64", reference:"x11-server-xorg-1.11.4-12.1.mbs1")) flag++;
if (rpm_check(release:"MDK-MBS1", cpu:"x86_64", reference:"x11-server-xvfb-1.11.4-12.1.mbs1")) flag++;


if (flag)
{
  if (report_verbosity > 0) security_hole(port:0, extra:rpm_report_get());
  else security_hole(0);
  exit(0);
}
else audit(AUDIT_HOST_NOT, "affected");
  • NASL familyUbuntu Local Security Checks
    NASL idUBUNTU_USN-1502-1.NASL
    descriptionKen Mixter discovered a format string vulnerability in the LogVHdrMessageVerb function when handling input device names. This could allow a local attacker to cause a denial of service or possibly execute arbitrary code. The default compiler options for the affected release should reduce the vulnerability to a denial of service. Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id59955
    published2012-07-12
    reporterUbuntu Security Notice (C) 2012-2019 Canonical, Inc. / NASL script (C) 2012-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/59955
    titleUbuntu 12.04 LTS : xorg-server vulnerability (USN-1502-1)
    code
    #
# (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc.
#
# The descriptive text and package checks in this plugin were
# extracted from Ubuntu Security Notice USN-1502-1. The text 
# itself is copyright (C) Canonical, Inc. See 
# <http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/>. Ubuntu(R) is a registered 
# trademark of Canonical, Inc.
#

include("compat.inc");

if (description)
{
  script_id(59955);
  script_version("1.7");
  script_cvs_date("Date: 2019/09/19 12:54:28");

  script_cve_id("CVE-2012-2118");
  script_bugtraq_id(53150);
  script_xref(name:"USN", value:"1502-1");

  script_name(english:"Ubuntu 12.04 LTS : xorg-server vulnerability (USN-1502-1)");
  script_summary(english:"Checks dpkg output for updated package.");

  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"synopsis", 
    value:"The remote Ubuntu host is missing a security-related patch."
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"description", 
    value:
"Ken Mixter discovered a format string vulnerability in the
LogVHdrMessageVerb function when handling input device names. This
could allow a local attacker to cause a denial of service or possibly
execute arbitrary code.

The default compiler options for the affected release should reduce
the vulnerability to a denial of service.

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding
description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable
has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible
without introducing additional issues."
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"see_also",
    value:"https://usn.ubuntu.com/1502-1/"
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"solution", 
    value:"Update the affected xserver-xorg-core package."
  );
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C");
  script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:F/RL:OF/RC:ND");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"Exploits are available");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploit_available", value:"true");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:xserver-xorg-core");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:12.04:-:lts");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2012/05/18");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2012/07/11");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2012/07/12");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"generated_plugin", value:"current");
  script_end_attributes();

  script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
  script_copyright(english:"Ubuntu Security Notice (C) 2012-2019 Canonical, Inc. / NASL script (C) 2012-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.");
  script_family(english:"Ubuntu Local Security Checks");

  script_dependencies("ssh_get_info.nasl");
  script_require_keys("Host/cpu", "Host/Ubuntu", "Host/Ubuntu/release", "Host/Debian/dpkg-l");

  exit(0);
}


include("audit.inc");
include("ubuntu.inc");
include("misc_func.inc");

if ( ! get_kb_item("Host/local_checks_enabled") ) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_ENABLED);
release = get_kb_item("Host/Ubuntu/release");
if ( isnull(release) ) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Ubuntu");
release = chomp(release);
if (! preg(pattern:"^(12\.04)$", string:release)) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Ubuntu 12.04", "Ubuntu " + release);
if ( ! get_kb_item("Host/Debian/dpkg-l") ) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING);

cpu = get_kb_item("Host/cpu");
if (isnull(cpu)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_ARCH);
if ("x86_64" >!< cpu && cpu !~ "^i[3-6]86$") audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_IMPLEMENTED, "Ubuntu", cpu);

flag = 0;

if (ubuntu_check(osver:"12.04", pkgname:"xserver-xorg-core", pkgver:"2:1.11.4-0ubuntu10.5")) flag++;

if (flag)
{
  security_report_v4(
    port       : 0,
    severity   : SECURITY_HOLE,
    extra      : ubuntu_report_get()
  );
  exit(0);
}
else
{
  tested = ubuntu_pkg_tests_get();
  if (tested) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_AFFECTED, tested);
  else audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_INSTALLED, "xserver-xorg-core");
}
  • NASL familyGentoo Local Security Checks
    NASL idGENTOO_GLSA-201207-04.NASL
    descriptionThe remote host is affected by the vulnerability described in GLSA-201207-04 (X.Org X Server: Privilege escalation) The
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id59896
    published2012-07-10
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2012-2015 Tenable Network Security, Inc.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/59896
    titleGLSA-201207-04 : X.Org X Server: Privilege escalation
    code
    #
# (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc.
#
# The descriptive text and package checks in this plugin were
# extracted from Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 201207-04.
#
# The advisory text is Copyright (C) 2001-2015 Gentoo Foundation, Inc.
# and licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution / Share Alike 
# license. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#

include("compat.inc");

if (description)
{
  script_id(59896);
  script_version("$Revision: 1.4 $");
  script_cvs_date("$Date: 2015/04/13 14:19:45 $");

  script_cve_id("CVE-2012-2118");
  script_bugtraq_id(53150);
  script_xref(name:"GLSA", value:"201207-04");

  script_name(english:"GLSA-201207-04 : X.Org X Server: Privilege escalation");
  script_summary(english:"Checks for updated package(s) in /var/db/pkg");

  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"synopsis", 
    value:
"The remote Gentoo host is missing one or more security-related
patches."
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"description", 
    value:
"The remote host is affected by the vulnerability described in GLSA-201207-04
(X.Org X Server: Privilege escalation)

    The 'LogVHdrMessageVerb()' function in log.c contains a format string
      vulnerability.
    NOTE: Exposure to this vulnerability is reduced in Gentoo due to X.Org X
      Server being built with '-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2' by default.
  
Impact :

    A local attacker could gain escalated privileges or cause a Denial of
      Service condition.
  
Workaround :

    There is no known workaround at this time."
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"see_also",
    value:"https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201207-04"
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"solution", 
    value:
"All X.Org X Server 1.11.x users should upgrade to the latest version:
      # emerge --sync
      # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose '>=x11-base/xorg-server-1.11.4-r1'
    All X.Org X Server 1.10.x users should upgrade to the latest version:
      # emerge --sync
      # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose '>=x11-base/xorg-server-1.10.6-r1'
    X.Org X Server 1.9.x is not affected."
  );
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C");
  script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:F/RL:OF/RC:ND");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"Exploits are available");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploit_available", value:"true");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:gentoo:linux:xorg-server");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:gentoo:linux");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2012/07/09");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2012/07/10");
  script_end_attributes();

  script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
  script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2012-2015 Tenable Network Security, Inc.");
  script_family(english:"Gentoo Local Security Checks");

  script_dependencies("ssh_get_info.nasl");
  script_require_keys("Host/local_checks_enabled", "Host/Gentoo/release", "Host/Gentoo/qpkg-list");

  exit(0);
}


include("audit.inc");
include("global_settings.inc");
include("qpkg.inc");

if (!get_kb_item("Host/local_checks_enabled")) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_ENABLED);
if (!get_kb_item("Host/Gentoo/release")) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Gentoo");
if (!get_kb_item("Host/Gentoo/qpkg-list")) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING);


flag = 0;

if (qpkg_check(package:"x11-base/xorg-server", unaffected:make_list("ge 1.11.4-r1", "rge 1.10.6-r1", "rle 1.9.5-r1"), vulnerable:make_list("lt 1.11.4-r1"))) flag++;

if (flag)
{
  if (report_verbosity > 0) security_hole(port:0, extra:qpkg_report_get());
  else security_hole(0);
  exit(0);
}
else
{
  tested = qpkg_tests_get();
  if (tested) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_AFFECTED, tested);
  else audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_INSTALLED, "X.Org X Server");
}

References