SUMMARY

Symantec’s Web Gateway management GUI is susceptible to file include command injection/execution, file upload/execution and file download/deletion security issues.  The management GUI is also susceptible to cross-site scripting (XSS).  Successful exploitation could result in execution of arbitrary code in the context of the application, denial of service through deletion of arbitrary system files, and unauthorized access to users' data or to unauthorized network information.

AFFECTED PRODUCTS

ISSUES

BID 53444 to the file include/command execution issues

BID 53442 to the file download/deletion issues

BID 53443 to the file upload/OS command execution issue

BID 53396 to the XSS issues

CVE-2012-0297 to the file include/command execution issues

CVE-2012-0298 to the file download/deletion issues

CVE-2012-0299 to the file upload/OS command execution issues

CVE-2012-0296 to the XSS issues

MITIGATION

Details

Symantec was notified of multiple security issues impacting the management console of the Symantec Web Gateway Appliance. The management interface does not properly authenticate or filter external input.  This could allow unauthorized access to user’s session or network information.  As a result of weak authentication and sanitization of user controlled input, arbitrary code could potentially be injected/included in application scripts used by the Symantec Web Gateway application potentially resulting in arbitrary command execution with application privileges. 

Additionally, file management scripts in the Symantec Web Gateway interface do not properly filter user input, potentially resulting in an unauthenticated, unprivileged user downloading and deleting arbitrary files including essential operational files. This could render the targeted system unavailable or unusable depending on the success of such an attempt and files targeted.  An unauthenticated, unprivileged user could also upload arbitrary code through the abuse of management scripts.  A malicious user could be able to control the file name and location which could potentially result in arbitrary command execution with elevated privileges.

Cross-site scripting vulnerabilities were also reported in the Symantec Web Gateway Management Interface. Cross-site scripting is a trust exploitation generally requiring enticing a authenticated user to click on a malicious link. A successful exploitation, depending on the nature of the link, could potentially result in arbitrary java/html requests and scripts executed in the context of the targeted user.

In a normal installation, the Symantec Web Gateway management interface should not be accessible external to the network.  However, an authorized but unprivileged network user or an external attacker able to leverage network access could attempt to exploit these weaknesses. 

Symantec Response

Symantec engineers verified these issues and have released an update to address them. Symantec engineers reviewed related functionality to further enhance the overall security of Symantec Web Gateway. Symantec has released Symantec Web Gateway 5.0.3, currently available to customers through normal update channels.

Symantec is not aware of any exploitation of, or adverse customer impact from these issues.

Best Practices

As part of normal best practices, Symantec strongly recommends:

• Restrict access to administration or management systems to privileged users.
• Disable remote access or restrict it to trusted/authorized systems only.
• Keep all operating systems and applications updated with the latest vendor patches.
• Follow a multi-layered approach to security. Run both firewall and anti-malware applications, at a minimum, to provide multiple points of detection and protection to both inbound and outbound threats.
• Deploy network and host-based intrusion detection systems to monitor network traffic for signs of anomalous or suspicious activity. This may aid in detection of attacks or malicious activity related to exploitation of latent vulnerabilities

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Symantec credits Tenable Network Security working through TippingPoint’s ZeroDay Initiative  for reporting file include, command injection/execution and file download/deletion and upload/execution issues.

Symantec credits an anonymous contributor working with Beyond Security's SecuriTeam Secure Disclosure project (http://www.beyondsecurity.com/ssd.html for reporting file include, command injection/execution; file download/deletion and upload/execution issues.

Symantec credits Ajay Pal Singh Atwal and an anonymous finder for reporting the cross-site scripting issues.

REFERENCES

BID: Security Focus, http://www.securityfocus.com, has assigned the following Bugtraq IDs (BID) to these issues for inclusion in the Security Focus vulnerability database.

CVE: These issues are candidates for inclusion in the CVE list (http://cve.mitre.org), which standardizes names for security problems. The following CVE IDs have been assigned.