Vulnerabilities > CVE-2017-15705 - Improper Input Validation vulnerability in multiple products

047910
CVSS 5.3 - MEDIUM
Attack vector
NETWORK
Attack complexity
LOW
Privileges required
NONE
Confidentiality impact
NONE
Integrity impact
NONE
Availability impact
LOW
network
low complexity
apache
redhat
debian
canonical
CWE-20
nessus

Summary

A denial of service vulnerability was identified that exists in Apache SpamAssassin before 3.4.2. The vulnerability arises with certain unclosed tags in emails that cause markup to be handled incorrectly leading to scan timeouts. In Apache SpamAssassin, using HTML::Parser, we setup an object and hook into the begin and end tag event handlers In both cases, the "open" event is immediately followed by a "close" event - even if the tag *does not* close in the HTML being parsed. Because of this, we are missing the "text" event to deal with the object normally. This can cause carefully crafted emails that might take more scan time than expected leading to a Denial of Service. The issue is possibly a bug or design decision in HTML::Parser that specifically impacts the way Apache SpamAssassin uses the module with poorly formed html. The exploit has been seen in the wild but not believed to have been purposefully part of a Denial of Service attempt. We are concerned that there may be attempts to abuse the vulnerability in the future.

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 familyAmazon Linux Local Security Checks
    NASL idAL2_ALAS-2018-1103.NASL
    descriptionA flaw was found in the way SpamAssassin processes HTML email containing unclosed HTML tags. A carefully crafted mail message could cause SpamAssassin to consume significant resources. If a large number of these messages are sent, a denial of service could occur potentially delaying or preventing the delivery of email.(CVE-2017-15705) A flaw was found in the way a local user on the SpamAssassin server could inject code in the meta rule syntax. This could cause the arbitrary code execution on the server when these rules are being processed.(CVE-2018-11781)
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id118834
    published2018-11-09
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2018 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/118834
    titleAmazon Linux 2 : spamassassin (ALAS-2018-1103)
  • NASL familyOracle Linux Local Security Checks
    NASL idORACLELINUX_ELSA-2018-2916.NASL
    descriptionFrom Red Hat Security Advisory 2018:2916 : An update for spamassassin is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7. Red Hat Product Security has rated this update as having a security impact of Important. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available for each vulnerability from the CVE link(s) in the References section. The SpamAssassin tool provides a way to reduce unsolicited commercial email (spam) from incoming email. Security Fix(es) : * spamassassin: Certain unclosed tags in crafted emails allow for scan timeouts and result in denial of service (CVE-2017-15705) * spamassassin: Local user code injection in the meta rule syntax (CVE-2018-11781) For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id118076
    published2018-10-12
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2018-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/118076
    titleOracle Linux 7 : spamassassin (ELSA-2018-2916)
  • NASL familyFreeBSD Local Security Checks
    NASL idFREEBSD_PKG_613193A0C1B411E8AE2D54E1AD3D6335.NASL
    descriptionthe Apache Spamassassin project reports : In Apache SpamAssassin, using HTML::Parser, we setup an object and hook into the begin and end tag event handlers In both cases, the
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id117721
    published2018-09-27
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2018-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/117721
    titleFreeBSD : spamassassin -- multiple vulnerabilities (613193a0-c1b4-11e8-ae2d-54e1ad3d6335)
  • NASL familySuSE Local Security Checks
    NASL idOPENSUSE-2019-1831.NASL
    descriptionThis update for spamassassin to version 3.4.2 fixes the following issues : Security issues fixed : - CVE-2018-11781: Fixed an issue where a local user could inject code in the meta rule syntax (bsc#1108748). - CVE-2018-11780: Fixed a potential remote code execution vulnerability in the PDFInfo plugin (bsc#1108750). - CVE-2017-15705: Fixed a denial of service through unclosed tags in crafted emails (bsc#1108745). - CVE-2016-1238: Fixed an issue where perl would load modules from the current directory (bsc#1108749). Non-security issues fixed : - Use systemd timers instead of cron (bsc#1115411) - Fixed incompatibility with Net::DNS >= 1.01 (bsc#1107765) - Fixed warning about deprecated regex during sa-update (bsc#1069831) This update was imported from the SUSE:SLE-15:Update update project.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id127739
    published2019-08-12
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2019-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/127739
    titleopenSUSE Security Update : spamassassin (openSUSE-2019-1831)
  • NASL familyFedora Local Security Checks
    NASL idFEDORA_2018-6ED251C42B.NASL
    descriptionFixed some small bugs in the previous package: Initial rules now have the correct version, sought channel config is dropped (since it doesn
    last seen2020-06-05
    modified2018-10-01
    plugin id117840
    published2018-10-01
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2018-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/117840
    titleFedora 27 : spamassassin (2018-6ed251c42b)
  • NASL familyDebian Local Security Checks
    NASL idDEBIAN_DLA-1578.NASL
    descriptionMultiple vulnerabilities were found in Spamassassin, which could lead to Remote Code Execution and Denial of Service attacks under certain circumstances. CVE-2016-1238 Many Perl programs do not properly remove . (period) characters from the end of the includes directory array, which might allow local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse module under the current working directory. CVE-2017-15705 A denial of service vulnerability was identified that exists in Apache SpamAssassin before 3.4.2. The vulnerability arises with certain unclosed tags in emails that cause markup to be handled incorrectly leading to scan timeouts. This can cause carefully crafted emails that might take more scan time than expected leading to a Denial of Service. CVE-2018-11780 A potential Remote Code Execution bug exists with the PDFInfo plugin in Apache SpamAssassin before 3.4.2. CVE-2018-11781 Apache SpamAssassin 3.4.2 fixes a local user code injection in the meta rule syntax. For Debian 8
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id118938
    published2018-11-14
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2018 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/118938
    titleDebian DLA-1578-1 : spamassassin security update
  • NASL familySuSE Local Security Checks
    NASL idSUSE_SU-2019-2011-1.NASL
    descriptionThis update for spamassassin to version 3.4.2 fixes the following issues : Security issues fixed : CVE-2018-11781: Fixed an issue where a local user could inject code in the meta rule syntax (bsc#1108748). CVE-2018-11780: Fixed a potential remote code execution vulnerability in the PDFInfo plugin (bsc#1108750). CVE-2017-15705: Fixed a denial of service through unclosed tags in crafted emails (bsc#1108745). CVE-2016-1238: Fixed an issue where perl would load modules from the current directory (bsc#1108749). Non-security issues fixed: Use systemd timers instead of cron (bsc#1115411) Fixed incompatibility with Net::DNS >= 1.01 (bsc#1107765) Fixed warning about deprecated regex during sa-update (bsc#1069831) Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the SUSE 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 id127751
    published2019-08-12
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2019-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/127751
    titleSUSE SLED15 / SLES15 Security Update : spamassassin (SUSE-SU-2019:2011-1)
  • NASL familyNewStart CGSL Local Security Checks
    NASL idNEWSTART_CGSL_NS-SA-2019-0041_SPAMASSASSIN.NASL
    descriptionThe remote NewStart CGSL host, running version CORE 5.04 / MAIN 5.04, has spamassassin packages installed that are affected by multiple vulnerabilities: - A flaw was found in the way a local user on the SpamAssassin server could inject code in the meta rule syntax. This could cause the arbitrary code execution on the server when these rules are being processed. (CVE-2018-11781) - A flaw was found in the way SpamAssassin processes HTML email containing unclosed HTML tags. A carefully crafted mail message could cause SpamAssassin to consume significant resources. If a large number of these messages are sent, a denial of service could occur potentially delaying or preventing the delivery of email. (CVE-2017-15705) Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id127217
    published2019-08-12
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/127217
    titleNewStart CGSL CORE 5.04 / MAIN 5.04 : spamassassin Multiple Vulnerabilities (NS-SA-2019-0041)
  • NASL familySuSE Local Security Checks
    NASL idSUSE_SU-2019-1961-1.NASL
    descriptionThis update for spamassassin to version 3.4.2 fixes the following issues : Security issues fixed : CVE-2017-15705: Fixed denial of service via unclosed tags in crafted emails (bsc#1108745). CVE-2018-11781: Fixed a code injection in the meta rule syntax by local users (bsc#1108748). CVE-2018-11780: Fixed a potential remote code execution vulnerability in PDFInfo plugin (bsc#1108750). Non-security issues fixed: Added four new plugins (disabled by default): HashBL, ResourceLimits, FromNameSpoof, Phishing sa-update script: optional support for SHA-256 / SHA-512 been added for better validation of rules GeoIP2 support has been added to RelayCountry and URILocalBL plugins Several new or enhanced configuration options Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the SUSE 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 id127038
    published2019-07-25
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2019-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/127038
    titleSUSE SLED12 / SLES12 Security Update : spamassassin (SUSE-SU-2019:1961-1)
  • NASL familyScientific Linux Local Security Checks
    NASL idSL_20181011_SPAMASSASSIN_ON_SL7_X.NASL
    descriptionSecurity Fix(es) : - spamassassin: Certain unclosed tags in crafted emails allow for scan timeouts and result in denial of service (CVE-2017-15705) - spamassassin: Local user code injection in the meta rule syntax (CVE-2018-11781)
    last seen2020-03-18
    modified2018-10-15
    plugin id118108
    published2018-10-15
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2018-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/118108
    titleScientific Linux Security Update : spamassassin on SL7.x x86_64 (20181011)
  • NASL familyAmazon Linux Local Security Checks
    NASL idALA_ALAS-2018-1091.NASL
    descriptionA flaw was found in the way a local user on the SpamAssassin server could inject code in the meta rule syntax. This could cause the arbitrary code execution on the server when these rules are being processed.(CVE-2018-11781) A potential Remote Code Execution bug exists with the PDFInfo plugin in Apache SpamAssassin before 3.4.2.(CVE-2018-11780) A flaw was found in the way SpamAssassin processes HTML email containing unclosed HTML tags. A carefully crafted mail message could cause SpamAssassin to consume significant resources. If a large number of these messages are sent, a denial of service could occur potentially delaying or preventing the delivery of email.(CVE-2017-15705)
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id118211
    published2018-10-19
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2018 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/118211
    titleAmazon Linux AMI : spamassassin (ALAS-2018-1091)
  • NASL familyUbuntu Local Security Checks
    NASL idUBUNTU_USN-3811-1.NASL
    descriptionIt was discovered that SpamAssassin incorrectly handled certain unclosed tags in emails. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2017-15705) It was discovered that SpamAssassin incorrectly handled the PDFInfo plugin. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2018-11780) It was discovered that SpamAssassin incorrectly handled meta rule syntax. A local attacker could possibly use this issue to execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2018-11781). 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 id118797
    published2018-11-07
    reporterUbuntu Security Notice (C) 2018-2019 Canonical, Inc. / NASL script (C) 2018-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/118797
    titleUbuntu 14.04 LTS / 16.04 LTS / 18.04 LTS : spamassassin vulnerabilities (USN-3811-1)
  • NASL familyGentoo Local Security Checks
    NASL idGENTOO_GLSA-201812-07.NASL
    descriptionThe remote host is affected by the vulnerability described in GLSA-201812-07 (SpamAssassin: Multiple vulnerabilities) Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in SpamAssassin. Please review the referenced CVE identifiers for details. Impact : A remote attacker could execute arbitrary code, escalate privileges, or cause a Denial of Service condition. Workaround : There is no known workaround at this time.
    last seen2020-03-28
    modified2018-12-17
    plugin id119703
    published2018-12-17
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2018-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/119703
    titleGLSA-201812-07 : SpamAssassin: Multiple vulnerabilities
  • NASL familyCentOS Local Security Checks
    NASL idCENTOS_RHSA-2018-2916.NASL
    descriptionAn update for spamassassin is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7. Red Hat Product Security has rated this update as having a security impact of Important. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available for each vulnerability from the CVE link(s) in the References section. The SpamAssassin tool provides a way to reduce unsolicited commercial email (spam) from incoming email. Security Fix(es) : * spamassassin: Certain unclosed tags in crafted emails allow for scan timeouts and result in denial of service (CVE-2017-15705) * spamassassin: Local user code injection in the meta rule syntax (CVE-2018-11781) For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id118117
    published2018-10-16
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2018-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/118117
    titleCentOS 7 : spamassassin (CESA-2018:2916)
  • NASL familyRed Hat Local Security Checks
    NASL idREDHAT-RHSA-2018-2916.NASL
    descriptionAn update for spamassassin is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7. Red Hat Product Security has rated this update as having a security impact of Important. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available for each vulnerability from the CVE link(s) in the References section. The SpamAssassin tool provides a way to reduce unsolicited commercial email (spam) from incoming email. Security Fix(es) : * spamassassin: Certain unclosed tags in crafted emails allow for scan timeouts and result in denial of service (CVE-2017-15705) * spamassassin: Local user code injection in the meta rule syntax (CVE-2018-11781) For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id118077
    published2018-10-12
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2018-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/118077
    titleRHEL 7 : spamassassin (RHSA-2018:2916)
  • NASL familyFedora Local Security Checks
    NASL idFEDORA_2018-8F0DF2C366.NASL
    descriptionFixed some small bugs in the previous package: Initial rules now have the correct version, sought channel config is dropped (since it doesn
    last seen2020-06-05
    modified2019-01-03
    plugin id120609
    published2019-01-03
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2019-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/120609
    titleFedora 29 : spamassassin (2018-8f0df2c366)
  • NASL familyFedora Local Security Checks
    NASL idFEDORA_2018-46D7A7F63E.NASL
    descriptionFixed some small bugs in the previous package: Initial rules now have the correct version, sought channel config is dropped (since it doesn
    last seen2020-06-05
    modified2019-01-03
    plugin id120387
    published2019-01-03
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2019-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/120387
    titleFedora 28 : spamassassin (2018-46d7a7f63e)

Redhat

advisories
rhsa
idRHSA-2018:2916
rpms
  • spamassassin-0:3.4.0-4.el7_5
  • spamassassin-debuginfo-0:3.4.0-4.el7_5