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Vulnerability Note VU#822476

VMware ESX Server management interface logs passwords in cleartext in a world-readable file

Overview

Certain versions of VMware ESX Server store passwords in a cleartext file that all users have read permissions to.

I. Description

Per the VMware ESX Server datasheet:

    ESX Server installs directly on the server hardware, or “bare metal,” and inserts a robust virtualization layer between the hardware and the operating system. ESX Server partitions a physical server into multiple secure and portable virtual machines that can run side by side on the same physical server.

VMware ESX server includes a web interface that can be used for remote management. On affected versions, when a user changes their password, the new credentials are recorded in the server logs as plain text files in directories that all users can read.

The affected versions of VMware ESX server are:
  • VMware ESX prior to 2.5.3 upgrade patch 2
  • VMware ESX prior to 2.1.3 upgrade patch 1
  • VMware ESX prior to 2.0.2 upgrade patch 1

II. Impact

Local users can read the passwords of any user who changed their password through the web interface.

III. Solution

Upgrade

VMware has issued upgrades that address this issue. Refer to VMware ESX Server 2.5.3 Upgrade Patch 2, VMware ESX Server 2.1.3 Upgrade Patch 1, or VMware ESX Server 2.0.2 Upgrade Patch 1 for more details.

Systems Affected

VendorStatusDate Updated
VMwareVulnerable24-Aug-2006

References


http://secunia.com/advisories/21230/
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2118366
http://www.vmware.com/download/esx/esx-253-200606-patch.html

Credit

Thanks to Corsaire for reporting this vulnerability.

This document was written by Ryan Giobbi.

Other Information

Date Public07/31/2006
Date First Published08/24/2006 01:46:18 PM
Date Last Updated08/29/2006
CERT Advisory 
CVE-ID(s)CVE-2005-3620
NVD-ID(s)CVE-2005-3620
US-CERT Technical Alerts 
Metric0.31
Document Revision38

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