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[cobalt-security] Fw: blowchunks - protecting existing apache servers until upgrades arrive



[RAQ4R]
I've noticed that both
/usr/sbin/httpd
/usr/sbin/httpd.admsrv
are compiled with DSO and mod_perl supprort - can anyone confirm that the
below code attaches to apache as stated in the below post?  This sounds like
a perfect bandaid until we here from sun on the officialy patch.

Anyone with a development server and 2 minutes?

Thanks in advance

Rick Garcia

----- Original Message -----
From: "Cris Bailiff" <c.bailiff+bugtraq@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bugtraq@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, June 21, 2002 11:19 PM
Subject: blowchunks - protecting existing apache servers until upgrades
arrive


>
> Many sysadmins will be in the unpleasant situation of having to live with
a
> known vulnerable apache server (or switching it off) until they can
obtain,
> test and integrate updated apache binaries for their various platforms
from
> different vendors, or make enough time to sit down and patch, re-compile
and
> test their home-grown versions.
>
> Some vendors have been very fast to respond, and have back-ported the fix
to
> many older apache releases, helping avoid many issues that a forced
upgrade
> might involve. Other vendors supplying apache and apache-based servers may
> not be so quick off the mark (or may not even be around anymore). Home
grown
> releases may also be similarly outdated, and back-porting is tedious.
>
> Because apache is so great, and has had a history of very few serious
> security bugs,  older versions are embedded in a wide variety of products
and
> systems, making it even more problematic to update all of them to the
latest
> release in a timely manner.
>
> Here's an option which might help in protecting those vulnerable servers,
> giving a breathing space until a proper tested fix does become available:
>
> Basically, most web sites and applications have no need for chunked
transfer
> encoding on HTTP *request*  messages. Most browsers don't even support it,
> and it's only *required* when a client doesn't know the final length of a
> file before an upload (which is pretty rare). Disallowing such requests
> should be no big deal. (This has nothing to do with using chunked encoding
> for data served in the HTTP *response*, though I guess we should start
> looking out for malicious web servers attacking vulnerable clients...)
>
> Attached are a two versions of code to allow the server to intercept each
> incoming HTTP request (at the 'Post Read Request' phase), and check to see
if
>  chunked encoding has been requested. If so, the request is denied and
> logged. This should prevent clients being able to trigger the vulnerable
> 'chunk size' reading code, and therefore prevent DoS or exploits.
>
> * BlowChunks.pl  - this version is for mod_perl enabled servers - if you
have
> a server with mod_perl already in place, this patch is trivial to install.
> Just paste it into the end of your existing httpd.conf, and restart. All
> done. Very Easy.
>
> * mod_blowchunks.c - this version is an apache module. If your apache is
> compiled with DSO support (run httpd -l and look for mod_so), you can
compile
> and install this module with just one apxs command (and a compiler!), and
> restart. Should be straightforwards for most admins.
>
> There is, of course, absolutely no warranty on these fixes, but it 'works
for
> me'. There could be ways round the protection provided, so rely on this
> entirely at your own risk!
>
> Both methods offer the advantage of not needing to touch your existing
apache
> binary (or any other modules), and can be trivially reverted if you have
any
> trouble, or when your real fix is ready. The should work on any platform
with
> either mod_perl or DSO support. If your apache is static, without DSO, you
> could re-compile it with this module included, but then you might as well
> just fix it properly.
>
> Any suggestions, criticisms or improvements on this technique are welcome,
> but, sorry, I am not able to 'help out', answer questions or otherwise
> provide support or assistance in compiling, installing or making them work
in
> any way!
>
> Cris Bailiff
> /dev/secure Pty Ltd - Awayweb, the Virtual VPN - http://www.awayweb.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Attachment: BlowChunks.pl
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Attachment: mod_blowchunks.c
Description: Binary data