CVE-2008-4037 - Improper Authentication

Severity

93%

Complexity

86%

Confidentiality

165%

Microsoft Windows 2000 Gold through SP4, XP Gold through SP3, Server 2003 SP1 and SP2, Vista Gold and SP1, and Server 2008 allows remote SMB servers to execute arbitrary code on a client machine by replaying the NTLM credentials of a client user, as demonstrated by backrush, aka "SMB Credential Reflection Vulnerability." NOTE: some reliable sources report that this vulnerability exists because of an insufficient fix for CVE-2000-0834.

Microsoft Windows 2000 Gold through SP4, XP Gold through SP3, Server 2003 SP1 and SP2, Vista Gold and SP1, and Server 2008 allows remote SMB servers to execute arbitrary code on a client machine by replaying the NTLM credentials of a client user, as demonstrated by backrush, aka "SMB Credential Reflection Vulnerability." NOTE: some reliable sources report that this vulnerability exists because of an insufficient fix for CVE-2000-0834.

CVSS 2.0 Base Score 9.3. CVSS Attack Vector: network. CVSS Attack Complexity: medium. CVSS Vector: (AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C).

Demo Examples

Improper Authentication

CWE-287

The following code intends to ensure that the user is already logged in. If not, the code performs authentication with the user-provided username and password. If successful, it sets the loggedin and user cookies to "remember" that the user has already logged in. Finally, the code performs administrator tasks if the logged-in user has the "Administrator" username, as recorded in the user cookie.


               
}
}
ExitError("Error: you need to log in first");
);
);
DoAdministratorTasks();

Unfortunately, this code can be bypassed. The attacker can set the cookies independently so that the code does not check the username and password. The attacker could do this with an HTTP request containing headers such as:


               
[body of request]

By setting the loggedin cookie to "true", the attacker bypasses the entire authentication check. By using the "Administrator" value in the user cookie, the attacker also gains privileges to administer the software.

Improper Authentication

CWE-287

Overview

First reported 16 years ago

2008-11-12 23:30:00

Last updated 6 years ago

2018-10-30 16:26:00

Affected Software

Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Itanium

Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 x64 (64-bit) (intial release)

Microsoft Windows Vista

Microsoft Windows Vista x64 (64-bit)

Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (initial release)

Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1 x64 (64-bit)

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