__________________________________________________________ The U.S. Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability ___ __ __ _ ___ / | /_\ / \___ __|__ / \ \___ __________________________________________________________ INFORMATION BULLETIN Microsoft Windows NT "Registry Permissions" Vulnerability December 12, 2000 17:00 GMT Number L-026 ______________________________________________________________________________ PROBLEM: Three registry keys: (1) SNMP Parameters, (2) RAS Administration, and (3) MTS Package Administration have default permissions that are inappropriately set. PLATFORM: Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server, Enterprise Edition Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server, Terminal Server Edition DAMAGE: The default permissions could allow a malicious user to gain additional privileges on an affected machine. SOLUTION: Apply the patch indicated below. ______________________________________________________________________________ VULNERABILITY The risk is medium. Allows elevated privileges, but must have ASSESSMENT: prior access. ______________________________________________________________________________ [****** Start of Microsoft Security Bulletin ******] Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS00-095) Tool Available for "Registry Permissions" Vulnerability Originally posted: December 06, 2000 Summary Microsoft has released a tool that corrects the permissions on several registry values in Microsoft(r) Windows NT(r) 4.0. The default permissions could allow a malicious user to gain additional privileges on an affected machine. Frequently asked questions regarding this vulnerability and the patch can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/fq00-095.asp Issue Three registry keys have default permissions that are inappropriately loose. The keys, and the risk they pose, are as follows: The "SNMP Parameters" key, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SNMP\Parameters, provides the SNMP community name and SNMP management station identifiers, if they exist. Reading this information would enable a malicious user to pose as a bona fide SNMP manager for any community the affected machine belonged to. (In actuality, though, the same information could be obtained by monitoring network traffic). Changing this information would enable her to create a community consisting solely of her local machine, as a way of gaining management privileges on it. SNMP is not installed on Windows NT 4.0 machines by default. The "RAS Administration" key, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\RAS, provides a way to install third-party RAS products that work with the Windows NT native RAS service. By changing one of the values in this key, it would be possible for a malicious user to specify code of her choice as a third-party management tool. The code would then run in the LocalSystem security context. Although it might be possible to make the needed registry changes remotely, the malicious user’s code would need to reside on the affected machine itself. RAS is not installed on Windows NT 4.0 machines by default. The "MTS Package Administration" key, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Transaction Server\Packages, includes information about which users are allowed to install and change MTS packages. By adding herself as an MTS manager, a malicious user could gain the ability to add, delete or change MTS packages. Although it might be possible in some cases to make the needed registry changes remotely, the malicious user would still need the ability to log onto the affected machine interactively in order to exercise her new privileges. MTS is not installed on Windows NT 4.0 machines by default. In addition to correcting the permissions on these keys, the tool also changes the permissions on several other keys that have previously been discussed. Specifically, the tool makes all the changes discussed in Microsoft Security Bulletins MS00-008 and MS00-024. Affected Software Versions Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server, Enterprise Edition Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server, Terminal Server Edition Patch Availability http://www.microsoft.com/Downloads/Release.asp?ReleaseID=24501 Note: The version of the tool in this bulletin also includes all changes discussed in Security Bulletins MS00-008 and MS00-024. Note: This tool may be run on machines running Windows NT 4.0 Service Packs 5 and 6a. Note Additional security patches are available at the Microsoft Download Center More Information Please see the following references for more information related to this issue. Frequently Asked Questions: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS00-095, http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/fq00-095.asp Microsoft Security Bulletin MS00-008, http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms00-008.asp Microsoft Security Bulletin MS00-024, http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms00-024. Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q265714 discusses the "SNMP Parameters" vulnerability and will be available soon. Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q267861 discusses the "RAS Administration" vulnerability and will be available soon. Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q267864 discusses the "MTS Package Administration" vulnerability and will be available soon. Microsoft TechNet Security web site, http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/default.asp Obtaining Support on this Issue This is a fully supported patch. Information on contacting Microsoft Product Support Services is available at http://support.microsoft.com/support/contact/default.asp. Acknowledgments Microsoft thanks the following people for working with us to protect customers: Chris Anley of @stake for reporting the "SNMP Parameters" vulnerability. Milan Dadok for reporting the "RAS Administration" vulnerability. Glenn Larsson for reporting the "MTS Package Administrator" vulnerability. Revisions December 06, 2000: Bulletin Created. THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY. [****** End of Microsoft Security Bulletin ******] _______________________________________________________________________________ CIAC wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Microsoft Corporation for the information contained in this bulletin. _______________________________________________________________________________ CIAC, the Computer Incident Advisory Capability, is the computer security incident response team for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the emergency backup response team for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). CIAC is located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. CIAC is also a founding member of FIRST, the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams, a global organization established to foster cooperation and coordination among computer security teams worldwide. 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