VMSA-2016-0010.1

VMware product updates address multiple important security issues

1. Summary

VMware product updates address a DLL hijacking issue in Windows-based
VMware Tools and an HTTP Header injection issue in vCenter Server and ESXi.

2. Relevant Products

• VMware vCenter Server
  
• VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi)
• VMware Workstation Pro
• VMware Workstation Player
• VMware Fusion
• VMware Tools
•  

3. Problem Description

a. DLL hijacking issue in Windows-based VMware Tools  

A DLL hijacking vulnerability is present in the VMware Tools "Shared Folders" (HGFS) feature running on Microsoft Windows. Exploitation of this issue may lead to arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the victim. In order to exploit this issue, the attacker would need write access to a network share and they would need to entice the local user into opening their document.  

There are no known workarounds for this issue.      

VMware would like to thank Yorick Koster of Securify B.V. for reporting this issue to us.  

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the identifier CVE-2016-5330 to this issue.  

Column 5 of the following table lists the action required to remediate the vulnerability in each release, if a solution is available.

* After the update or patch is applied, VMware Tools must also be updated in any Windows-based guests that include the "Shared Folders" (HGFS) feature to resolve CVE-2016-5330.   

** VMware Tools can be downloaded independently and installed to resolve this issue.    

*** Successfully exploiting this issue requires installation of "Shared Folders" component (HGFS feature) which does not get installed in "custom/typical" installation of VMware Tools on Windows VM running on ESXi.

b. HTTP Header injection issue in vCenter Server and ESXi      

vCenter Server and ESXi contain an HTTP header injection vulnerability due to lack of input validation. An attacker can exploit this issue to set arbitrary HTTP response headers and cookies, which may allow for cross-site scripting and malicious redirect attacks.     

There are no known workarounds for this issue.      

VMware would like to thank Vladimir Ivanov, Andrey Evlanin, Mikhail Stepankin, Artem Kondratenko, Arseniy Sharoglazov of Positive Technologies, Matt Foster of Netcraft Ltd, Matthias Deeg of SySS GmbH, Eva Esteban Molina of A2secure​ and Ammarit Thongthua for independently reporting this issue to us.  

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the identifier CVE-2016-5331 to this issue.  

Column 5 of the following table lists the action required to remediate the vulnerability in each release, if a solution is available.

4. Solution

Please review the patch/release notes for your product and version and verify the checksum of your downloaded file.

vCenter Server

----------------------

Downloads and Documentation:  

https://www.vmware.com/go/download-vsphere     

ESXi 6.0  

-------------

Downloads:  

https://www.vmware.com/patchmgr/findPatch.portal     

Documentation:  

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2142192 (CVE-2016-5331)     

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2142193 (CVE-2016-5330)      

ESXi 5.5 

------------

Downloads:  

https://www.vmware.com/patchmgr/findPatch.portal     

Documentation:  

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2144370        

ESXi 5.1   

-----------

Downloads:  

https://www.vmware.com/patchmgr/findPatch.portal     

Documentation:  

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2141434  

ESXi 5.0

------------ 

Downloads:  

https://www.vmware.com/patchmgr/findPatch.portal     

Documentation:  

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2144027           

VMware Workstation Pro 12.1.1

--------------------------------------------

Downloads and Documentation:

https://www.vmware.com/go/downloadworkstationpro  

VMware Workstation Player 12.1.1  

------------------------------------------------

Downloads and Documentation:  

https://www.vmware.com/go/downloadplayer      

VMware Fusion 8.1.1  

-----------------------------

Downloads and Documentation:

https://www.vmware.com/go/downloadfusion      

VMware Tools 10.0.6

------------------------------

Downloads:

https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=VMTOOLS1006&productId=491   

Documentation:  

http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/vmwaretools/1006/vmware-tools-1006-release-notes.html

5. References

          http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2016-5330  

          http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2016-5331

6. Change log

2016-08-04 VMSA-2016-0010 Initial security advisory in conjunction with the release of VMware ESXi 5.5 patches on 2016-08-04.

2016-09-19 VMSA-2016-0010.1

Updated security advisory to clarify the affected versions of VMware tools.

7. Contact

E-mail list for product security notifications and announcements:

http://lists.vmware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/security-announce

This Security Advisory is posted to the following lists:

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

E-mail: [email protected]

PGP key at: https://kb.vmware.com/kb/1055

VMware Security Advisories

http://www.vmware.com/security/advisories

Consolidated list of VMware Security Advisories

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2078735

VMware Security Response Policy

https://www.vmware.com/support/policies/security_response.html

VMware Lifecycle Support Phases

https://www.vmware.com/support/policies/lifecycle.html

Twitter

https://twitter.com/VMwareSRC

Copyright 2016 VMware Inc. All rights reserved.