Vulnerability Note VU#524681

Macrovision FLEXnet Connect Software Manager DWUpdateService ActiveX control contains dangerous methods

Original Release date: 31 May 2007 | Last revised: 13 Apr 2009

Overview

The Macrovision FLEXnet Connect Software Manager DWUpdateService ActiveX control fails to restrict access to its methods, which can allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary commands on a vulnerable system.

Description

Macrovision FLEXnet Connect is a software package that allows vendors to provide updates to applications. FLEXnet Connect-enabled software has the ability to

  • Check for updates from the software publisher
  • Receive update files and messages from the software publisher
  • Install software updates, including the ability to do so silently
  • Collect and transmit system information, such as machine name, operating system, IP address, or other hardware details, such as network or video card properties
  • Log and transmit each time an application is started, terminated, or when a specific feature within the application is used
FLEXnet Connect includes an ActiveX control called DWUpdateService, which is provided by the file agent.exe. This ActiveX control contains methods called Execute() and GetExitCode(), which can be used to execute with arbitrary parameters any program on the system, as well as check the exit code of the process that was executed.

Note that this control may be provided by installing the FLEXnet Connect SDK, installing other InstallShield software, or also by running FLEXnet Connect-enabled Windows software.

Impact

By convincing a user to view a specially crafted HTML document (e.g., a web page or an HTML email message or attachment), an attacker may be able to execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the user.

Solution

Apply an update
Macrovision has addressed this issue with a FLEXnet Connect 6.0 SDK update described in support document Q113020. Note that the installer version that contains the fix is 12.0.0.49974, which was digitally signed on May 22, 2007. The update that was originally published with this document did not contain the fix. Because the vulnerable control may be provided to end-users who do not have the FLEXnet Connect SDK installed, please consider the following workarounds:


Disable the DWUpdateService ActiveX control in Internet Explorer

The vulnerable ActiveX control can be disabled in Internet Explorer by setting the kill bit for the following CLSID:

    {551E5190-19C7-4626-9D54-FB20355E6467}
More information about how to set the kill bit is available in Microsoft Support Document 240797. Alternatively, the following text can be saved as a .REG file and imported to set the kill bit for this control:
    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\{551E5190-19C7-4626-9D54-FB20355E6467}]
    "Compatibility Flags"=dword:00000400
Disable ActiveX

Disabling ActiveX controls in the Internet Zone (or any zone used by an attacker) appears to prevent exploitation of this and other ActiveX vulnerabilities. Instructions for disabling ActiveX in the Internet Zone can be found in the "Securing Your Web Browser" document. 

Systems Affected (Learn More)

VendorStatusDate NotifiedDate Updated
EarthlinkAffected-10 Oct 2008
MacrovisionAffected06 Mar 200731 May 2007
Research in Motion (RIM)Affected10 Oct 200826 Nov 2008
If you are a vendor and your product is affected, let us know.

CVSS Metrics (Learn More)

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

References

Credit

This vulnerability was reported by Will Dormann of CERT/CC.

This document was written by Will Dormann.

Other Information

  • CVE IDs: CVE-2007-0328
  • Date Public: 31 May 2007
  • Date First Published: 31 May 2007
  • Date Last Updated: 13 Apr 2009
  • Severity Metric: 4.69
  • Document Revision: 15

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