Vulnerability Note VU#305294

Overview

SMB authentication information may be stored as plain text within URI shortcuts. As a result, a local attacker may be able read the authentication information and gain access to the share.

Description

SMB is a protocol for sharing data and resources between computers. Many operating systems support accessing SMB shares via URIs of the form: smb://domain\username:password@server\sharename If a shortcut to a protected SMB share is created, the URI (including the password section) will be stored as plain text within the shortcut. If an attacker can access the properties of the shortcut, they will be able to read the password and may be able to gain access to the protected share. According to reports, this vulnerability affects the KDE Desktop Environment. However, other applications or operating systems may be affected as well.

Impact

If a local attacker can create (or persuade a user to create) a shortcut to a protected SMB share and then gain access to that shortcut's properties, they will be able to read the SMB share's authentication information and consequently, gain access to the protected SMB share.

Solution

We are currently unaware of a solution to this problem.

Lock Computer Users are encouraged to lock their computers when they step away from them.

Systems Affected (Learn More)

Vendor	Status	Date Notified	Date Updated
KDE Desktop Environment Project	Affected	07 Dec 2004	13 Dec 2004
NEC Corporation	Not Affected	-	17 Mar 2005
Conectiva	Unknown	09 Dec 2004	10 Dec 2004
Debian	Unknown	09 Dec 2004	10 Dec 2004
Engarde	Unknown	09 Dec 2004	10 Dec 2004
Hewlett-Packard Company	Unknown	09 Dec 2004	10 Dec 2004
IBM-zSeries	Unknown	09 Dec 2004	10 Dec 2004
IBM eServer	Unknown	09 Dec 2004	17 Dec 2004
Immunix	Unknown	09 Dec 2004	10 Dec 2004
Ingrian Networks	Unknown	09 Dec 2004	10 Dec 2004
MandrakeSoft	Unknown	09 Dec 2004	10 Dec 2004
MontaVista Software	Unknown	09 Dec 2004	10 Dec 2004
Novell	Unknown	09 Dec 2004	10 Dec 2004
Openwall GNU/*/Linux	Unknown	09 Dec 2004	10 Dec 2004
Red Hat Inc.	Unknown	09 Dec 2004	15 Dec 2004

If you are a vendor and your product is affected, let us know.View More »

CVSS Metrics (Learn More)

Group	Score	Vector
Base	N/A	N/A
Temporal	N/A	N/A
Environmental	N/A	N/A

References

• http://www.derkeiler.com/Mailing-Lists/securityfocus/bugtraq/2004-11/0394.html

Credit

This vulnerability was reported by Daniel Fabian.

This document was written by Jeff Gennari.

Other Information

• CVE IDs: Unknown
• Date Public: 29 Nov 2004
• Date First Published: 13 Dec 2004
• Date Last Updated: 17 Mar 2005
• Severity Metric: 1.39
• Document Revision: 116