Vulnerability Assessment & Network Security Forums

If through a vulnerability assessment, a network security issue is detected for the vulnerability below, applying the appropriate security patches in a timely matter is very important. If you have detected that your system has already been compromised, following CERT's Network Security recovery document will assist with recommended steps for system recovery.

Home >> Browse Vulnerability Assessment Database >> Gentoo Local Security Checks >> [GLSA-200502-09] Python: Arbitrary code execution through SimpleXMLRPCServer

Vulnerability Assessment Details

[GLSA-200502-09] Python: Arbitrary code execution through SimpleXMLRPCServer

Vulnerability Assessment Summary
Python: Arbitrary code execution through SimpleXMLRPCServer

Detailed Explanation for this Vulnerability Assessment
The remote host is affected by the vulnerability described in GLSA-200502-09
(Python: Arbitrary code execution through SimpleXMLRPCServer)

Graham Dumpleton discovered that XML-RPC servers making use of the
SimpleXMLRPCServer library that use the register_instance() method to
register an object without a _dispatch() method are vulnerable to a
flaw permiting to read or modify globals of the associated module.

Impact

A remote attacker may be able to exploit the flaw in such XML-RPC
servers to execute arbitrary code on the server host with the rights of
the XML-RPC server.

Workaround

Python users that don't make use of any SimpleXMLRPCServer-based
XML-RPC servers, or making use of servers using only the
register_function() method are not affected.

References:
http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2005-0089
http://www.python.org/security/PSF-2005-001/

Solution:
All Python users should upgrade to the latest version:
# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose dev-lang/python

Network Security Threat Level: High

Networks Security ID:

Vulnerability Assessment Copyright: (C) 2005 Michel Arboi

Cables, Connectors