iDefense Security Advisory 05.03.11: Tom Sawyer GET Extension Factory COM Object Instantiation Memory Corruption Vulnerability

iDefense Security Advisory 05.03.11
http://labs.idefense.com/intelligence/vulnerabilities/
May 03, 2011

I. BACKGROUND

Tom Sawyer Software's GET Extension Factory is a component used for
graph visualization applications development. It is included in VMWare
Infrastructure Client. For more information, please visit vendor's
website: http://www.tomsawyer.com/products/index.php

II. DESCRIPTION

Remote exploitation of a memory corruption vulnerability in Tom Sawyer
Software's GET Extension Factory could allow an attacker to execute
arbitrary code with the privileges of the affected user.

The vulnerability exists within the way that Internet Explorer
instantiates GET Extension Factory COM objects, which is not intended to
be created inside of the browser. The object does not initialize
properly, and this leads to a memory corruption vulnerability that an
attacker can exploit to execute arbitrary code.

III. ANALYSIS

Exploitation of this vulnerability would allow an attacker to execute
arbitrary code with the privileges of the affected user. In order to
exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would have to convince the
target to visit a website. An attacker typically accomplishes this via
social engineering or injecting content into compromised, trusted sites.

IV. DETECTION

iDefense has confirmed Tom Sawyer's Default GET Extension Factory
5.5.2.237, tsgetxu71ex552.dll and tsgetx71ex552.dll to be vulnerable.
VMWare VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 6, VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 6a is
vulnerable.

V. WORKAROUND

Setting the kill bit for those controls will prevent exploitation. The
CLSIDs for the controls are A2282403-50DE-4A2E-A118-B90AEDB1ADCC and
575B655F-FED4-4EE1-8F62-0A69D404F46B

VI. VENDOR RESPONSE

VMware Inc. has released patches to address this issue. Information
about downloadable vendor updates can be found by clicking on the URLs
shown.

http://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2011-0009.html

VII. CVE INFORMATION

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project has assigned the
name CVE-2011-2217 to this issue. This is a candidate for inclusion in
the CVE list (http://cve.mitre.org/), which standardizes names for
security problems.

VIII. DISCLOSURE TIMELINE

11/11/2008 Initial Vendor Notification
11/11/2008 Initial Vendor Reply
05/03/2011 Coordinated Public Disclosure

IX. CREDIT

This vulnerability was reported to iDefense by Elazar Broad.

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X. LEGAL NOTICES

Copyright © 2011 Verisign

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Disclaimer: The information in the advisory is believed to be accurate
at the time of publishing based on currently available information. Use
of the information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition.
There are no warranties with regard to this information. Neither the
author nor the publisher accepts any liability for any direct, indirect,
or consequential loss or damage arising from use of, or reliance on,
this information.