GNU C Library (glibc) __nss_hostname_digits_dots() function vulnerable to buffer overflow

Overview

The __nss_hostname_digits_dots() function of the GNU C Library (glibc) allows a buffer overflow condition in which arbitrary code may be executed. This vulnerability has been assigned CVE-2015-0235, and is referred to in the media by the name “GHOST”.

Description

According to Qualys, the vulnerability is “a buffer overflow in the __nss_hostname_digits_dots() function of the GNU C Library (glibc). This bug is reachable both locally and remotely via the gethostbyname*() functions” and furthermore, “arbitrary code execution can be achieved” by use of the buffer overflow.

All versions of glibc from glibc-2.2 (released 2010-11-10) until glibc-2.17 are vulnerable. The vulnerability was patched on 2013-05-21, prior to the release of glibc-2.18.

For more details, please see the full Qualys Security Advisory.

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Impact

The __nss_hostname_digits_dots() function allows a buffer overflow condition in which arbitrary code may be executed. The impact may vary depending on if the use case is local or remote.

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Solution

Apply an update

Affected users may apply a patch or update to glibc-2.18`` or later. The Vendor Status information below provides more information on updates.

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Vendor Information

Some older, no longer supported versions of linux distributions may contain an older version of glibc that is vulnerable. Please check with your vendor to find out if you need to upgrade to a newer operating system in order to address this issue.

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Arch Linux __ Affected

Notified: January 28, 2015 Updated: January 30, 2015

Statement Date: January 28, 2015

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

“Arch Linux is not vulnerable. [Arch Linux is] on a modern version of glibc so [Arch Linux] should have been safe for 18+ months.”

Vendor Information

We are not aware of further vendor information regarding this vulnerability.

Addendum

If using an edition of Arch Linux older than about 18 months, you may wish to check with the vendor to find out if you need to upgrade.

If you have feedback, comments, or additional information about this vulnerability, please send us [email](<mailto:[email protected]?Subject=VU%23967332 Feedback>).

Blue Coat Systems Affected

Updated: January 30, 2015

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor Information

We are not aware of further vendor information regarding this vulnerability.

Vendor References

• <https://bto.bluecoat.com/security-advisory/sa90&gt;

Cisco Systems, Inc. Affected

Updated: January 30, 2015

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor Information

We are not aware of further vendor information regarding this vulnerability.

Vendor References

• <http://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20150128-ghost&gt;

Citrix Affected

Updated: January 30, 2015

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor Information

We are not aware of further vendor information regarding this vulnerability.

Vendor References

• <http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX200391&gt;

Debian GNU/Linux Affected

Notified: January 28, 2015 Updated: January 28, 2015

Statement Date: January 28, 2015

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor Information

We are not aware of further vendor information regarding this vulnerability.

Vendor References

• <https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2015-0235&gt;

F5 Networks, Inc. Affected

Updated: January 30, 2015

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor Information

We are not aware of further vendor information regarding this vulnerability.

Vendor References

• <https://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/solutions/public/16000/000/sol16057.html&gt;

Gentoo Linux __ Affected

Notified: January 28, 2015 Updated: January 30, 2015

Statement Date: January 29, 2015

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

"Our most recent glibc packages are not affected; we’ll be issuing an

advisory anyway to inform users who may still have older versions installed."

Vendor Information

We are not aware of further vendor information regarding this vulnerability.

Juniper Networks, Inc. Affected

Updated: January 30, 2015

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor Information

We are not aware of further vendor information regarding this vulnerability.

Vendor References

• http://kb.juniper.net/InfoCenter/index?page=content&id=JSA10671&cat=SIRT_1&actp=

NEC Corporation __ Affected

Updated: October 22, 2015

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

“We provide information on this issue at the following URL: <<http://jpn.nec.com/security-info/secinfo/nv15-007.html&gt;&gt; (only in Japanese).”

Vendor Information

We are not aware of further vendor information regarding this vulnerability.

Vendor References

• <http://jpn.nec.com/security-info/secinfo/nv15-007.html&gt;

NetApp Affected

Updated: January 30, 2015

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor Information

We are not aware of further vendor information regarding this vulnerability.

Vendor References

• https://kb.netapp.com/support/index?page=content&id=9010027

Openwall GNU/*/Linux __ Affected

Notified: January 28, 2015 Updated: January 30, 2015

Statement Date: January 29, 2015

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

“Openwall GNU/*/Linux (Owl) was affected, although there's no known attack vector that would expose the glibc bug as a vulnerability in an install of Owl with no third-party software. We have released glibc updates for Owl 3.1-stable and Owl-current on 2015/01/28.”

Vendor Information

We are not aware of further vendor information regarding this vulnerability.

Red Hat, Inc. Affected

Notified: January 28, 2015 Updated: January 30, 2015

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor Information

We are not aware of further vendor information regarding this vulnerability.

Vendor References

• <https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-0235&gt;
• <https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2015-0099.html&gt;

SUSE Linux __ Affected

Notified: January 28, 2015 Updated: January 28, 2015

Statement Date: January 28, 2015

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

"`SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 and older are affected by the problem. We released
updates
for all supported and affected codestreams.

SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 is not affected by this problem.`"

Vendor Information

We are not aware of further vendor information regarding this vulnerability.

Vendor References

• <http://support.novell.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-0235.html&gt;
• <http://lists.suse.com/pipermail/sle-security-updates/2015-January/001186.html&gt;

Slackware Linux Inc. Affected

Notified: January 28, 2015 Updated: January 28, 2015

Statement Date: January 28, 2015

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor Information

We are not aware of further vendor information regarding this vulnerability.

Vendor References

• http://www.slackware.com/security/list.php?l=slackware-security&y=2015

Ubuntu __ Affected

Notified: January 28, 2015 Updated: January 28, 2015

Statement Date: January 28, 2015

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

“Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (lucid) and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (precise) were affected; Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and newer releases were not, as they included versions of the GNU C Library that already contained the upstream fix.”

Vendor Information

We are not aware of further vendor information regarding this vulnerability.

Vendor References

• <http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-2485-1/&gt;
• <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SecurityTeam/KnowledgeBase/GHOST&gt;

openSUSE project __ Affected

Notified: January 28, 2015 Updated: January 30, 2015

Statement Date: January 28, 2015

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

“openSUSE 13.1 and 13.2 are not affected by the problem.”

Vendor Information

We are not aware of further vendor information regarding this vulnerability.

Vendor References

• <http://support.novell.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-0235.html&gt;
• <http://lists.suse.com/pipermail/sle-security-updates/2015-January/001186.html&gt;

Addendum

Older versions of openSUSE may be affected. Check with the vendor to see if you require an upgrade.

If you have feedback, comments, or additional information about this vulnerability, please send us [email](<mailto:[email protected]?Subject=VU%23967332 Feedback>).

Contiki OS __ Not Affected

Notified: January 28, 2015 Updated: January 28, 2015

Statement Date: January 28, 2015

Status

Not Affected

Vendor Statement

“Contiki OS does not use the GNU libc resolver functions so is not affected by this.”

Vendor Information

We are not aware of further vendor information regarding this vulnerability.

CentOS Unknown

Notified: January 28, 2015 Updated: January 28, 2015

Status

Unknown

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor References

Cray Inc. Unknown

Notified: January 28, 2015 Updated: January 28, 2015

Status

Unknown

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor References

Fedora Project Unknown

Notified: January 28, 2015 Updated: January 28, 2015

Status

Unknown

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor References

Hewlett-Packard Company Unknown

Notified: January 28, 2015 Updated: January 28, 2015

Status

Unknown

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor References

IBM Corporation (zseries) Unknown

Notified: January 28, 2015 Updated: January 28, 2015

Status

Unknown

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor References

IBM eServer Unknown

Notified: January 28, 2015 Updated: January 28, 2015

Status

Unknown

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor References

Mandriva S. A. Unknown

Notified: January 28, 2015 Updated: January 28, 2015

Status

Unknown

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor References

Oracle Corporation Unknown

Notified: January 28, 2015 Updated: January 28, 2015

Status

Unknown

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor References

Turbolinux Unknown

Notified: January 28, 2015 Updated: January 28, 2015

Status

Unknown

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor References

View all 26 vendors __View less vendors __

CVSS Metrics

Group	Score	Vector
Base	10	AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
Temporal	7.8	E:POC/RL:OF/RC:C
Environmental	5.9	CDP:ND/TD:M/CR:ND/IR:ND/AR:ND

References

• <https://www.qualys.com/research/security-advisories/GHOST-CVE-2015-0235.txt&gt;
• <http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/01/27/9&gt;

Acknowledgements

Credit to Qualys for discovering the vulnerability.

This document was written by Garret Wassermann.

Other Information

CVE IDs:	CVE-2015-0235
Date Public:	2015-01-28 Date First Published: