Issued:
2012-05-21
Updated:
2012-05-21

RHSA-2012:0679 - Security Advisory

Synopsis

Moderate: tomcat5 security and bug fix update

Type/Severity

Security Advisory: Moderate

Topic

An update for the Apache Tomcat 5 component for JBoss Enterprise Web Server
1.0.2 that fixes multiple security issues and two bugs is now available
from the Red Hat Customer Portal.

The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having moderate
security impact. Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base scores,
which give detailed severity ratings, are available for each vulnerability
from the CVE links in the References section.

Description

Apache Tomcat is a servlet container for the Java Servlet and JavaServer
Pages (JSP) technologies.

JBoss Enterprise Web Server includes the Tomcat Native library, providing
Apache Portable Runtime (APR) support for Tomcat. References in this text
to APR refer to the Tomcat Native implementation, not any other apr
package.

This update includes bug fixes as documented in JBPAPP-4873 and
JBPAPP-6133. It also resolves the following security issues:

Multiple flaws were found in the way Tomcat handled HTTP DIGEST
authentication. These flaws weakened the Tomcat HTTP DIGEST authentication
implementation, subjecting it to some of the weaknesses of HTTP BASIC
authentication, for example, allowing remote attackers to perform session
replay attacks. (CVE-2011-1184, CVE-2011-5062, CVE-2011-5063,
CVE-2011-5064)

A flaw was found in the way the Coyote (org.apache.coyote.ajp.AjpProcessor)
and APR (org.apache.coyote.ajp.AjpAprProcessor) Tomcat AJP (Apache JServ
Protocol) connectors processed certain POST requests. An attacker could
send a specially-crafted request that would cause the connector to treat
the message body as a new request. This allows arbitrary AJP messages to be
injected, possibly allowing an attacker to bypass a web application's
authentication checks and gain access to information they would otherwise
be unable to access. The JK (org.apache.jk.server.JkCoyoteHandler)
connector is used by default when the APR libraries are not present. The JK
connector is not affected by this flaw. (CVE-2011-3190)

It was found that the Java hashCode() method implementation was susceptible
to predictable hash collisions. A remote attacker could use this flaw to
cause Tomcat to use an excessive amount of CPU time by sending an HTTP
request with a large number of parameters whose names map to the same hash
value. This update introduces a limit on the number of parameters processed
per request to mitigate this issue. The default limit is 512 for parameters
and 128 for headers. These defaults can be changed by setting the
org.apache.tomcat.util.http.Parameters.MAX_COUNT and
org.apache.tomcat.util.http.MimeHeaders.MAX_COUNT system properties.
(CVE-2011-4858)

It was found that Tomcat did not handle large numbers of parameters and
large parameter values efficiently. A remote attacker could make Tomcat use
an excessive amount of CPU time by sending an HTTP request containing a
large number of parameters or large parameter values. This update
introduces limits on the number of parameters and headers processed per
request to address this issue. Refer to the CVE-2011-4858 description for
information about the org.apache.tomcat.util.http.Parameters.MAX_COUNT and
org.apache.tomcat.util.http.MimeHeaders.MAX_COUNT system properties.
(CVE-2012-0022)

A flaw was found in the Tomcat MemoryUserDatabase. If a runtime exception
occurred when creating a new user with a JMX client, that user's password
was logged to Tomcat log files. Note: By default, only administrators have
access to such log files. (CVE-2011-2204)

A flaw was found in the way Tomcat handled sendfile request attributes
when using the HTTP APR or NIO (Non-Blocking I/O) connector. A malicious
web application running on a Tomcat instance could use this flaw to bypass
security manager restrictions and gain access to files it would otherwise
be unable to access, or possibly terminate the Java Virtual Machine (JVM).
The HTTP NIO connector is used by default in JBoss Enterprise Web Server.
(CVE-2011-2526)

Red Hat would like to thank oCERT for reporting CVE-2011-4858, and the
Apache Tomcat project for reporting CVE-2011-2526. oCERT acknowledges
Julian Wälde and Alexander Klink as the original reporters of
CVE-2011-4858.

All users of JBoss Enterprise Web Server 1.0.2 as provided from the Red Hat
Customer Portal are advised to apply this update.

Solution

The References section of this erratum contains a download link (you must
log in to download the update). Before applying the update, back up your
existing JBoss Enterprise Web Server installation (including all
applications and configuration files).

Tomcat must be restarted for this update to take effect.

Affected Products

  • JBoss Enterprise Web Server Text-Only Advisories x86_64

Fixes

  • BZ - 717013 - CVE-2011-2204 tomcat: password disclosure vulnerability
  • BZ - 720948 - CVE-2011-2526 tomcat: security manager restrictions bypass
  • BZ - 734868 - CVE-2011-3190 tomcat: authentication bypass and information disclosure
  • BZ - 741401 - CVE-2011-1184 CVE-2011-5062 CVE-2011-5063 CVE-2011-5064 tomcat: Multiple weaknesses in HTTP DIGEST authentication
  • BZ - 750521 - CVE-2011-4858 tomcat: hash table collisions CPU usage DoS (oCERT-2011-003)
  • BZ - 783359 - CVE-2012-0022 tomcat: large number of parameters DoS

JBoss Enterprise Web Server Text-Only Advisories

SRPM
x86_64

The Red Hat security contact is secalert@redhat.com. More contact details at https://access.redhat.com/security/team/contact/.