Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2007 15:40:04 +0300
From: 3APA3A <3APA3A@...URITY.NNOV.RU>
To: "M. Burnett" <mb@...o.net>
Cc: full-disclosure@...ts.grok.org.uk, bugtraq@...urityfocus.com
Subject: Re: Microsoft Windows Vista/2003/XP/2000 file
	management security issues

Dear M. Burnett,

--Friday, March 9, 2007, 7:12:31 AM, you wrote to 3APA3A@...URITY.NNOV.RU:

MB> 3APA3A, I just wanted to say that is very clever research you have done.
MB> It's true that this does require some re-thinking of security practices, but
MB> I don't think it's accurate to say it's impossible to secure a private
MB> folder in a public one--I believe there is a way to do it securely.

Of  cause,  there  is  always  a  way  to  solve one specific problem. A
solution  for  problem  #1  has  problem #2. Solution for problem #2 has
problem #3.

MB> There are three basic attacks you described:
MB> 1. Attacker deletes a users' new folder then immediately re-creates it,
MB> establishing ownership of the folder
MB> 2. Attacker predicts filename, creates the file, then keeps it open for all
MB> access, retaining rights on the file
MB> 3. Attacker creates and deletes a file but keeps it open, denying any other
MB> access to that file.

And

   4.  By  forcing  irresolvable replication collision on DFS replicated
   folder  in  conjunction  with  [3]  attacker can delete newly created
   files  (and  probably folders, I did no test) created by another user
   even in case of permissions like this:

   Users: Add & read
   Creator Owner: full control (or something, doesn't matter).
   
MB> The last two attacks could be prevented by creating new files in a private
MB> folder that prevents others from creating files. However, item 1 could
MB> compromise the security of that folder when it is initially created. To
MB> prevent that situation you would need to make sure that, within a public
MB> directory, only the CREATOR OWNER can delete a folder, which I believe is
MB> the default setting. 

MB> But, as you noticed, others can still delete that folder. There is a quirky
MB> thing in NTFS that allows users to delete subfolders and files without even
MB> having delete permissions on those files (see
MB> http://xato.net/bl/2007/01/04/pointless-permissions/). I think that if you
MB> set permissions on a folder that prevented users from deleting children, and
MB> only allowed CREATOR OWNER to delete new folders, when a user creates a new
MB> folder it will be secure, therefore protecting you from 2 and 3.

 The problem with replicated folder has no relation to NTFS permissions.
 It's  not  replication service itself, not user who deletes the file of
 folder, because of collision. Attacker only forces collision situation.
 This  can  not  be  fixed by NTFS permissions. "Add" NTFS permission is
 only required to remove somebody's newly created file.

 For replication service attacks is:

 1. Victim creates Folder
 2. Attacker creates Folder with same name on different replication mirror
 and locks it.
 3. Replication service detects collision and removes Folder
 4. Attacker creates Folder again
 5. Folder is replicated. Attacker is now folder owner.

MB> I haven't fully tested this to verify it, but I believe this would prevent
MB> all the scenarios you described, although a user could still prevent the
MB> initial folder creation if they could predict the filename.

 As  you  can see, there is at least one situation where your assumption
 is wrong, a case of DFS replication.

 Of  cause,  it  still can be solved somehow, but who can guarantee it's
 impossible to find problem #5 in solution for problem #4?

MB> Nevertheless, these are still important issues that illustrate some of the
MB> confusion that the NTFS quirkiness leads to. 



MB> Mark Burnett
MB> http://xato.net



MB> -----Original Message-----
MB> From: 3APA3A [mailto:3APA3A@...URITY.NNOV.RU] 
MB> Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2007 12:59 PM 
MB> Subject: Microsoft Windows Vista/2003/XP/2000 file management security
MB> issues
MB> To: bugtraq@...urityfocus.com; full-disclosure@...ts.grok.org.uk


MB> This   is   an   article   I   promised   to   publish   after  Windows
MB> ReadDirectoryChangesW  (CVE-2007-0843)  [1] issue. It should explain why
MB> you must never place secure data inside insecure directory.



MB> Title: Microsoft Windows Vista/2003/XP/2000 file management security issues
MB> Author: 3APA3A, http://securityvulns.com/
MB> Vendor: Microsoft (and potentially another vendors)
MB> Products:  Microsoft  Windows Vista/2003/XP/2000, Microsoft resource kit
MB>            for Windows 2000 and different utilities.
MB> Access Vector: Local
MB> Type: multiple/complex (weak design, insecure file operations, etc)
MB> Original advisory: http://securityvulns.com/advisories/winfiles.asp
MB> Securityvulns.com news:
MB> http://security.nnov.ru/news/Microsoft/Windows/files.html

MB> 0. Intro

MB> This  article contains a set of attack scenarios to demonstrate security
MB> weakness in few very common Windows management practices. Neither of the
MB> problem  explained  is critical, yet combined together they should force
MB> you   to   review   your   security   practices.   I   can't   even  say
MB> "vulnerabilities"   because   there   is   no  something  you  can  call
MB> "vulnerability". It's just something you believe is secure and it's not.

MB> 1.1 Problem: inability to create secured file / folder in public one.
MB>     Attack: folder hijack attack

MB> First,  it's simply impossible with standard Windows interface to create
MB> something secured in insecure folder.

MB>  Scenario  1.1:

MB>  Bob  wishes  to  create "Bob private data" folder in "Public" folder to
MB>  place  few private files. "Public" has at least "Write" permissions for
MB>  "User" group. Bob:

MB>      I   Creates "Bob private data" folder
MB>      II  Sets permission for folder to only allow access to folder himself
MB>      III Copies private files into folder

MB>   Alice wants to get access to folder Bob created. She

MB>      Ia  Immediately  after  folder  is  created,  deletes "Bob private
MB>          data"  folder  and creates "Bob private data" folder again (or
MB>          simply  takes  ownership  under  "Bob  private data" folder if
MB>          permissions allow). It makes Alice folder owner.
MB>      IIa Immediately  after  Bob  sets permissions, she grants herself
MB>          full control under folder. She can do it as a folder owner.
MB>      IIIa  Reads  Bob's  private  files,  because  files permissions are
MB>          inherited from folder

MB>   Alice   can  use  "Spydir"  (http://securityvulns.com/soft/)  tool  to
MB>   monitor  files  access  and automate this process. As you can see, [1]
MB>   elevates this problem significantly.
     
MB>   This   is  not  new  attack.  Unix  has  "umask"  command  to protect
MB>   administrators and users. Currently, Windows has nothing similar.

MB>   CreateFile() API supports setting file ACL on file creation (just like
MB>   open()  allows  to set mode on POSIX systems). ACL can be securely set
MB>   only  on  newly  created  files.  This raises a problem of secure file
MB>   creation.

MB> 1.2  Problem: Inability to lock / securely change permissions of already
MB>      created file
MB>      Attack: pre-open file/directory attack.

MB>   There  are  few  classes  of insecure file creation attack (attempt to
MB>   open   existing  file),  exploitable  under  Unix  with  hardlinks  or
MB>   symlinks.  It's  believed  Windows  is  not vulnerable to this attacks
MB>   because

MB>     I.  There  is  no  symlinks  under Windows. Symlink attacks are not
MB>         possible.
MB>     II. Security  information  in  NTFS  is  not  stored  as  a part of
MB>         directory entry, it's a part of file data. Hard link attacks are
MB>         not possible.
MB>     III. File  locks  in  Windows  are  mandatory.  It  means,  if  one
MB>          application  locks  the file, another application can not open
MB>          this  file, if user doesn't have backup privileges. It mitigate
MB>          different file-based attacks.

MB>   There  is at least one scenario, attacker can succeed without symbolic
MB>   link:  to  steal  data  written to file created without check for file
MB>   existence regardless of file locks and permissions.

MB>   Attack description: if attacker can predict filename to be written, he
MB>   can  create file, open it and share this file for all types of access.
MB>   Because  locking  and  permissions  are  only  checked  on  file open,
MB>   attacker  retain  access  to  the  file  even  if it's locked and it's
MB>   permissions are changed to deny file access to attacker.

MB>   Exploit (or useful tool): http://securityvulns.com/files/spyfile.c

MB>   Opens  file, shares it for different types of access and logs changes,
MB>   keeping the file open.

MB>   Compiled version is available from http://securityvulns.com/soft/

MB>   Scenario 1.2.1:

MB>    Bob is now aware about folder hijack attack. He use xcopy /O /U /S to
MB>    synchronize  his  files  to  newly  created  folder.  xcopy /O copies
MB>    security  information (ownership and permissions) before writing data
MB>    to file.

MB>    Alice  use  "Spydir"  to  monitor  newly created folders and files in
MB>    Bob's  directory.  She  use Spyfile to create spoofed files in target
MB>    directory  and  waits for Bob to run xcopy. Now, she has full control
MB>    under  content of Bob's files despite the fact she has no permissions
MB>    to access these files.

MB>    In  a  same  way  directory  content  may be monitored by pre-opening
MB>    directory.

MB>   Scenario 1.2.2:

MB>    Enterprise  directory  structure  is  replicated every day to another
MB>    user-writable  location  in  order  to alow users to recover suddenly
MB>    deleted  or  modified files. xcopy or robocopy (from resource kit) is
MB>    used  for  replication.  Attacker can hijack content of newly created
MB>    files in newly created folders.

MB>   Same problem may happen on archive extraction or backup restoration.

MB>   Vulnerable  applications:
MB>     xcopy (from all Windows versions),
MB>     robocopy (Windows  2000  Resource Kit),
MB>     different archivers
MB>     backup restoration utilities

MB>   By  default,  xcopy warns user the file exists, unless /Y or /U key is
MB>   specified.  But
MB>     I.  /Y  is  always  specified  for replication
MB>     II. /Y  can  be specified via COPYCMD environment variable. COPYCMD
MB>     environment    variable   can  be  created  in  autoexec.bat  file.
MB>     Different situations are possible, where autoexec.bat is writable by
MB>     attacker, if:
MB>      - Default Windows 2000 permissions are used or applied with domain
MB>      policy [2].
MB>      - One can try to re-create autoexec.bat using POSIX subsystem
MB>     III.  Neither  xcopy  nor  other  utilities  warn user on existing
MB>     directory. Pre-open directory attack will always succeed.

MB>   As you can see, [1] again dramatically elevates this problem.

MB> 1.3 Problem: user can completely block access to the files
MB>     Attack: open file deletion
MB>     (including Windows file replication service DoS)

MB>     If files is deleted while it's open, it still present in file system
MB>     under  it's  old  name  until  close.  Any  operation  on  this file
MB>     (including  attributes  requests)  fails,  regardless of application
MB>     rights and permissions (including backup ones).

MB>     Exploit:  use  spyfile,  delete  file while it's spied. Now, without
MB>     closing  spyfile,  attempt  any  operation on this file (e.g. try to
MB>     find it's ownership).

MB>     Scenario 1.3.1

MB>     Now Bob found an copy application to securely copy files. It deletes
MB>     old file before creating new one. But it fails if Alice tries to spy
MB>     on  Bob  files,  because  attempt  to delete file succeeds, but file
MB>     still present and is unmanageable.

MB>     Scenario 1.3.2

MB>     Windows  file  replication  service  (FRS) is used to replicate data
MB>     between  2  public  DFS  folders  to  distribute  load.  Folder  has
MB>     permissions:
MB>      Everyone: Add & read
MB>      Creator Owner: Full Control
MB>     Thouse, Alice has no permissions to delete files created by Bob.

MB>     Replicated  folder  is  available as a share on 2 different servers:
MB>     \\SERVER1\Share    and    \\SERVER2\Share.    Bob    is    connected
MB>     to \\SERVER1\Share.

MB>     Alice uses "Spydir" to monitor files creation by Bob. Every time Bob
MB>     creates  new  file  on  \\SERVER1\Share, Alice use spyfile to create
MB>     file  with same name on \\SERVER2\Share. It effectively leads to FRS
MB>     collision.  While  trying  to resolve collision, FRS fails to delete
MB>     file  created  by  Alice  and  Bob file is deleted (original file is
MB>     moved to special hidden folder only accessible by administrator).

MB>     Workaround:  never  try  to  use  creator-owner based permissions in
MB>     replicated folders.

MB>     Again, [1] seriously escalates this problem.
    
MB> 2. Conclusion:

MB>   It's  simply impossible to securely create something in public folder.
MB>   At least DoS conditions are always possible.
MB>   Developers should  not  consider mandatory file locking as a security
MB>   feature.
MB>   Developers  should  care about secure file creation to store sensitive
MB>   information.  CREATE_NEW  should  always be used and ACL should be set
MB>   with  lpSecurityAttributes  of CreateFile. No attempt to open existing
MB>   file should be made.
MB>   Never  try  to  create secure folder in public one. If you are forced,
MB>   disconnect     all   users   before   this   operation.
MB>   Never  use  replication,  archive  extraction  or  backup  restore  to
MB>   user-accessible folder.
MB>   Bob and Alice should finally marry.
    
MB> 3. Vendor:

MB>   All timelines are same with [1].


MB> [1]. Microsoft Windows ReadDirectoryChangesW information leak
MB> (CVE-2007-0843)
MB> http://security.nnov.ru/news/Microsoft/Windows/ReadDirector.html
MB> [2]. Windows 2000 system partition weak default permissions
MB> http://securityvulns.ru/news2205.html

MB> http://winblogs.security-feeds.com


-- 
~/ZARAZA http://securityvulns.com/
Почтенные ископаемые! Жду от вас дальнейших писем.  (Твен)

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