Categories: Security

Flaws in php5 could cause crash or run programs on Ubuntu

Ubuntu has issued a security notice to inform users about flaws in php5 exploitable to crash or run programs if it received specially crafted network traffic.

According to the recent Ubuntu Security Notice php5 could be made to crash or run arbitrary code if it received specially crafted network traffic.

“Summary -php5 could be made to crash or run programs if it received specially crafted network traffic.” states the advisory.

The Security Notice was issued by for the first time by the vendor on 9th September, 2014 and it was coded as USN-2344-1.

According to Ubuntu, the security flaw affects the following releases and its derivatives:

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS

According to security notice, the Fileinfo component in php5 contains is affected by an integer overflow that could be exploited by a bad actor to cause a denial of service or to execute arbitrary code via a crafted CDF file. (CVE-2014-3587). The advisory also reports that the php_parserr function contains multiple buffer overflows that could be exploited by an attacker to cause a denial of service or to execute arbitrary code via crafted DNS records. (CVE-2014-3597)

The vulnerabilities have been already fixed and it correct the problem is it necessary to update user’s system to the following package version:

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS:: php5 5.5.9+dfsg-1ubuntu4.4; libapache2-mod-php5 5.5.9+dfsg-1ubuntu4.4; php5-fpm 5.5.9+dfsg-1ubuntu4.4; php5-cgi 5.5.9+dfsg-1ubuntu4.4
Ubuntu 12.04 LTS:: php5 5.3.10-1ubuntu3.14; libapache2-mod-php5 5.3.10-1ubuntu3.14; php5-fpm 5.3.10-1ubuntu3.14; php5-cgi 5.3.10-1ubuntu3.14
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS:: php5 5.3.2-1ubuntu4.27; libapache2-mod-php5 5.3.2-1ubuntu4.27; php5-cgi 5.3.2-1ubuntu4.27

Be aware, once updated the system it is necessary to restart Apache or php5-fpm to make effective the changes.

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – Ubuntu, php)

Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.