CVE-2016-0777
Description
An information leak flaw was found in the way the OpenSSH client roaming feature was implemented. A malicious server could potentially use this flaw to leak portions of memory (possibly including private SSH keys) of a successfully authenticated OpenSSH client.
Statement
This issue does not affect the version OpenSSH as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4, 5 and 6. This issue affects the version of OpenSSH as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 in a non-default configuration. For more information please refer to https://access.redhat.com/articles/2123781
Mitigation
1. The vulnerable roaming code can be permanently disabled by adding the
undocumented option "UseRoaming no" to the system-wide configuration
file (usually /etc/ssh/ssh_config), or per-user configuration file
(~/.ssh/config), or command-line (-o "UseRoaming no").
2. If an OpenSSH client is disconnected from an SSH server that offers
roaming, it prints "[connection suspended, press return to resume]" on
stderr, and waits for '\n' or '\r' on stdin (and not on the controlling
terminal) before it reconnects to the server; advanced users may become
suspicious and press Control-C or Control-Z instead, thus avoiding the
information leak.
However, SSH commands that use the local stdin to transfer data to the
remote server are bound to trigger this reconnection automatically (upon
reading a '\n' or '\r' from stdin). Moreover, these non-interactive SSH
commands (for example, backup scripts and cron jobs) commonly employ
public-key authentication and are therefore perfect targets for this
information leak.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v2 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 4.3 | 4 | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Network | Network | N/A |
| Access Complexity | Medium | Low | N/A |
| Authentication | None | Single | N/A |
| Confidentiality Impact | Partial | Partial | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | None | None | N/A |
| Availability Impact | None | None | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
NVD: AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
If the incorrect calculation causes the program to move into an unexpected state, it may lead to a crash or impairment of service.
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; DoS: Resource Consumption (Other); Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
If the incorrect calculation is used in the context of resource allocation, it could lead to an out-of-bounds operation (CWE-119) leading to a crash or even arbitrary code execution. Alternatively, it may result in an integer overflow (CWE-190) and / or a resource consumption problem (CWE-400).
Access Control
Technical Impact: Gain Privileges or Assume Identity
In the context of privilege or permissions assignment, an incorrect calculation can provide an attacker with access to sensitive resources.
Access Control
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism
If the incorrect calculation leads to an insufficient comparison (CWE-697), it may compromise a protection mechanism such as a validation routine and allow an attacker to bypass the security-critical code.
Acknowledgements
Red Hat would like to thank Qualys for reporting this issue.
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