Advisory CA-2002-15 Denial-of-Service Vulnerability in ISC BIND 9

CERT Advisory CA-2002-15 Denial-of-Service Vulnerability in ISC BIND 9

Original release date: June 04, 2002
Last revised: –
Source: CERT/CC

A complete revision history can be found at the end of this file.

Systems Affected

 * Domain Name System (DNS) servers running ISC BIND 9 prior to 9.2.1
   Because  the  normal  operation  of  most services on the Internet
   depends  on  the  proper  operation of DNS servers, other services
   could be affected if this vulnerability is exploited.

Overview

A denial-of-service vulnerability exists in version 9 of the Internet
Software Consortium's (ISC) Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND)
server. ISC BIND versions 8 and 4 are not affected. Exploiting this
vulnerability will cause the BIND server to shut down.

I. Description

BIND is an implementation of the Domain Name System (DNS) that is
maintained by the ISC. A vulnerability exists in version 9 of BIND
that allows remote attackers to shut down BIND servers. An attacker
can cause the shutdown by sending a specific DNS packet designed to
trigger an internal consistency check. However, this vulnerability
will not allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code or write data to
arbitrary locations in memory.

The internal consistency check that triggers the shutdown occurs when
the rdataset parameter to the dns_message_findtype() function in
message.c is not NULL as expected. The condition causes the code to
assert an error message and call abort() to shut down the BIND server.
It is also possible to accidentally trigger this vulnerability using
common queries found in routine operation, especially queries
originating from SMTP servers.

A vulnerability note describing this problem can be found at
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/739123. This vulnerability note
includes a list of vendors that have been contacted about this
vulnerability.

This vulnerability is also being referenced as CAN-2002-0400:

http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CAN-2002-0400

II. Impact

Exploitation of this vulnerability will cause the BIND server to abort
and shut down. As a result, the BIND server will not be available
unless it is restarted.

III. Solution

Apply a patch from your vendor

The ISC has released BIND version 9.2.1. The CERT/CC recommends that
users of BIND 9 apply a patch from their vendor or upgrade to BIND
9.2.1.

Appendix A. - Vendor Information

This appendix contains information provided by vendors for this
advisory. As vendors report new information to the CERT/CC, we will
update this section and note the changes in our revision history. If a
particular vendor is not listed below, we have not received their
comments.

Apple

 The version of BIND that ships in Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server does
 not contain this vulnerability.

BSDI

 Wind  River  Systems, Inc. does not include BIND 9 with any version
 of BSD/OS.

Caldera

 SCO  OpenServer  from Caldera does not ship BIND9, and is therefore
 not vulnerable.
 Caldera  Open  UNIX  does  ship  BIND9,  and  is vulnerable. We are
 investigating.
 Caldera  OpenLinux  does  not  ship  BIND9,  and  is  therefore not
 vulnerable.

Compaq Computer Corporation

 HP Alpha Server Products:
 HP Tru64 UNIX:
 Tru64  UNIX  is  not  vulnerable to this reported problem. HP Tru64
 UNIX ships with BIND 8.2.2-p5
 TCP/IP for HP OpenVms:
 TCP/IP   for   HP  OpenVms  is  not  vulnerable  to  this  reported
 problem.The  current  versions  of  TCP/IP for HP OpenVMS ship BIND
 8.2.2-p5
 HP NonStop Server:
 "HP  NonStop  Himalaya  is  not  vulnerable  to  this problem.  The
 'named' function of Domain Name Server (T6021) which is implemented
 for  HP  NonStop Himalaya is based on BIND 4.8.  NonStop DNS is the
 only Himalaya software product that includes 'named'."

Cray

 Cray, Inc. is not vulnerable since the BIND distributed with Unicos
 and Unicos/mk is not based on BIND 9.

Engarde

 Guardian  Digital  does  not ship BIND 9 in any versions of EnGarde
 Secure  Linux,  therefore  we are not vulnerable. All versions were
 shipped with BIND 8.

F5 Networks, Inc.

 F5  Networks' products do not include BIND 9, and are therefore not
 affected by this vulnerability.

FreeBSD

 The FreeBSD base system does not ship with ISC BIND 9. However, ISC
 BIND  9  is  available  in  the  FreeBSD  Ports  Collection.  It is
 currently at version 9.2.1 and is therefore unaffected.

Hewlett-Packard Company

 HP is Vulnerable, Solution investigation continuing..

IBM

 After  analysis  of the affected component, IBM has determined that
 the AIX bind deamon is not vulnerable to the attack as described in
 the CERT advisory.

Internet Software Consortium

 This  vulnerability  was found through routine bug analysis. BIND 9
 is  designed  to exit when it detects an internal consistency error
 to reduce the impact of bugs in the server. ISC strongly reccomends
 that  all BIND 9 users upgrade immediately to 9.2.1. BIND 9.2.1 can
 be found at http://www.isc.org/products/BIND/bind9.html.

MandrakeSoft

 Mandrake  Linux  8.x  ships with BIND9 and as such updated packages
 will be available as early as possible.

Microsoft Corporation

 Microsoft  has  reviewed  the  information and can confirm that our
 products are not affected by this vulnerability.

NEC Corporation

 sent on June 3, 2002
 [Server Products]
 * EWS/UP 48 Series operating system
    - is NOT vulnerable.

NetBSD

 NetBSD has not included Bind 9 in the base system of any release or
 -current development branch.
 Bind  9  is  available  from the 3rd party software system, pkgsrc.
 Users  who  have  installed  net/bind9  or net/bind9-current should
 update  to  a  fixed version. pkgsrc/security/audit-packages can be
 used to keep up to date with these types of issues.

Network Appliance

 All  NetApp  products  do  not  contain any BIND code, so no NetApp
 product is vulnerable to this problem.

Nortel Networks Limited

 Nortel  Networks  is  reviewing  its  portfolio to determine if any
 products  are  affected by the vulnerability noted in CERT Advisory
 CA-2002-15. A definitive statement will be issued shortly.

Red Hat

 Red  Hat distributed BIND 9 in Red Hat Linux versions 7.1, 7.2, and
 7.3.  We  are  currently working on producing errata packages, when
 complete these will be available along with our advisory at the URL
 below.   At the same time users of the Red Hat Network will be able
 to update their systems using the 'up2date' tool.
 http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2002-105.html

Silicon Graphics, Inc.

 IRIX does not ship with BIND9 and is not vulnerable.

Sun Microsystems

 Sun  does  not ship BIND 9 with any version of Solaris at this time
 and is therefore not affected by this issue.

SuSE, Inc.

 We  are  affected  by  the  bind9  DoS  issue  as  well. All of our
 currently  supported SuSE Linux products come with a bind9 package.
 We  will  release  an  announcement for the issue, coordinated with
 your timeframe and not before we see your official announcement.

Unisphere Networks, Inc.

 The  Unisphere  Networks  ERX  family  of  edge  routers  does  not
 implement  a  DNS  server  or  named  daemon  within the Unison OS.
 Additionally,  the  DNS client found on the ERX is not based on the
 ISC BIND code. Unisphere Networks has no reason to expect a similar
 problem exists in the DNS client implementation found on the ERX.
 _________________________________________________________________

The CERT Coordination Center thanks the Internet Software Consortium
for notifying us about this vulnerability.
_________________________________________________________________

Author: Ian A. Finlay

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This document is available from:
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Revision History
June 04, 2002: Initial release