Secunia Logo
 
Perl Explicit Format Parameter Index Integer Overflow Vulnerability
Secunia Advisory: SA17802
Release Date: 2005-12-01
Last Update: 2005-12-22
Popularity: 13,506 views

Critical:
Moderately critical
Impact: DoS
System access
Where: From remote
Solution Status: Vendor Patch

Software:Perl 5.x

Subscribe: Instant alerts on relevant vulnerabilities

CVE reference:CVE-2005-3962


Description:
Jack Louis has discovered a vulnerability in Perl, which can be exploited by malicious people to cause a Denial of Service and potentially to compromise a vulnerable Perl application.

The vulnerability is caused due to an integer overflow error in the "Perl_sv_vcatpvfn()" function of "sv.c" when handing a format string that contains an explicit format parameter index that exceeds INT_MAX. This can exploited to cause illegal memory access which causes an affected Perl application to crash.

Example:
perl -e 'printf("%2147483649\$n");'

The vulnerability has been confirmed in version 5.8.7 and also reported in versions 5.8.6 and 5.9.2. Other versions may also be affected.

Note: This vulnerability must be exploited in conjunction with a format string vulnerability in a Perl application. According to the vendor, exploitation of this vulnerability could lead to execution of arbitrary code.

Solution:
Apply patches.

Perl 5.8.0:
ftp://ftp.cpan.org/pub/CPAN/authors/id/N/NW/NWCLARK/sprintf-5.8.0.patch

Perl 5.8.1 and 5.8.2:
ftp://ftp.cpan.org/pub/CPAN/authors/id/N/NW/NWCLARK/sprintf-5.8.2.patch

Perl 5.8.3:
ftp://ftp.cpan.org/pub/CPAN/authors/id/N/NW/NWCLARK/sprintf-5.8.3.patch

Perl 5.8.4 through 5.8.7:
ftp://ftp.cpan.org/pub/CPAN/authors/id/N/NW/NWCLARK/sprintf-5.8.7.patch

Provided and/or discovered by:
Jack Louis, Dyad Security.

Changelog:
2005-12-02: Added CVE reference.
2005-12-07: Added links to US-CERT vulnerability notes.
2005-12-22: Vendor released patch information. Updated "Critical", "Solution Status", "Solution" and "Original Advisory" sections.

Original Advisory:
Perl.org:
http://www.perlfoundation.org/news/2005/sprintf_patch_released.html

Dyad Security:
http://www.dyadsecurity.com/perl-0002.html

Other References:
VU#948385:
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/948385

VU#946969:
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/946969


Track this Secunia Advisory
Customers of the Secunia Vulnerability Intelligence solutions will automatically receive updates when new information regarding this advisory is released.

Read more about our Vulnerability Intelligence solutions and what they can do for you and your company.

About this Secunia Advisory
Please note: The information that this Secunia Advisory is based on comes from a third party unless stated otherwise.

Secunia collects, validates, and verifies all vulnerability reports issued by security research groups, vendors, and others.
  
Latest Advisories

Send Feedback to Secunia
If you have new information regarding this Secunia advisory or a product in our database, please send it to us using either our web form or email us at vuln@secunia.com.

Ideas, suggestions, and other feedback are most welcome.

Most Popular - 3 Hours

1. IBM AIX update for sendmail // 67 views
2. Adobe Flash Player Multiple Security Issues and Vulnerabilities // 36 views
3. Apple iPhone / iPod touch Multiple Vulnerabilities // 31 views
4. Sun Java JDK / JRE Multiple Vulnerabilities // 27 views
5. Adobe Acrobat/Reader Multiple Vulnerabilities // 25 views
6. Microsoft XML Core Services Multiple Vulnerabilities // 24 views
7. Checkpoint VPN-1 Information Disclosure Vulnerability // 24 views
8. Mozilla Firefox 3 Multiple Vulnerabilities // 24 views
9. BitDefender Antivirus PDF Processing Memory Corruption Vulnerability // 21 views
10. EMC Control Center SAN Manager Multiple Vulnerabilities // 21 views