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RobRich
12-31-2000, 04:42 AM
Cut and pasted from Bugtraq, by way of the most excellent moderator Bill at Romulus2.com:

Name: Multiple Vulnerabilities in ZoneAlarm

Application: ZoneAlarm 2.1.44

Platforms: Windows 9x, ME, NT, 2000

Severity: ZoneAlarm does not detect several types of common Nmap scans.
It is also possible for a remote attacker, under certain circumstances, to
gain complete access to the file system and disable ZoneAlarm.

Author: The WolfPak, alerts@wolfpak.dynip.com

ZoneAlarm (http://www.zonelabs.com) is marketed as a personal firewall and
threat detection/prevention tool. It is directed at the Windows-based home
user with a constant connection to the Internet with a DSL or Cable modem
service.

Unfortunately, ZoneAlarm does not allow its users to maintain a true
understanding of their threat level and exposure. Attackers scanning a
system employing ZoneAlarm will go unnoticed when using the common Nmap
scan types ACK, FIN, Xmas, Window & Null. While these scans do not return
lists of open ports to the attacker, the ZoneAlarm user is not aware of
the probe or the possibility of attacks being directed against them.

In addition, a window of opportunity exists during the boot process, which
allows a remote attacker access to shared resources available on the
ZoneAlarm protected device. If file sharing is enabled via Windows
Networking and proper Access Controls (ACL) are not utilized, complete
access to all shared resources can be obtained through simple NetBIOS
drive mapping (tools such as Legion have proven the existence and
viability of this threat). Attackers gaining access to the install
location of ZoneAlarm (C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm by default)
using such a share, it is possible for the attacker to disable ZoneAlarm
by deleting or renaming either the executable or its associated DLL files.
In an NTFS partition, the entire directory, and all associated files, are
installed with 'Everyone:Full Control' as permissions. The registry keys
created by ZoneAlarm (HKLM\Software\Zone Labs) also have weak permissions,
being set at 'Everyone:Special Access', including SetValue, CreateSubkey &
Delete. Note that users do receive a pop-up dialog window asking for the
location of the deleted or renamed file, however, the message is
sufficiently ambiguous to confuse most basic users into just clicking
CANCEL.

Once ZoneAlarm is disabled, complete unmitigated access to the file system
is obtained. Data may be removed, copied, modified, deleted or otherwise
manipulated. From this point, normal remote code execution attacks can be
utilized to further compromise the system.

According to the manufacturer, "More than 8 million PC users have
downloaded ZoneAlarm", making it a very popular target indeed. Zone Labs
has been advised of these vulnerabilities and no patch or work around has
been provided.

ZoneAlarm is copyright Zone Labs, Inc.
WolfPak Homepage: http://wolfpak.dynip.com

Just thought this was interesting,

Robert Richmond

pickel
12-31-2000, 09:08 AM
http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/showtell/story/0,23008,2573269,00.html
Read and article and download "surfin guard"

Also received in email from Steve Gibson... http://grc.com/lt/scoreboard.htm




[This message has been edited by pickel (edited 12-31-2000).]

socalgal
12-31-2000, 01:25 PM
Thanks for the report, Rob!

I had read about the window of opportunity during the boot process some time ago, but the first I've heard of the failure to notify on the NMAP scan.

I think we'll be seeing more exploits and cracks becoming known in this firewall because its enormous popularity makes it a target, and due to the fact that a simple firewall can't be configured to the level that more sophisticated firewalls can, which naturally leaves more room for breaches.

As far as Steve Gibson's Scoreboard, looks like he's behind in reporting the latest exploits. Makes me wonder what else hasn't been reported yet... Makes interesting reading on what has been reported. Thanks, Pickel.


[This message has been edited by socalgal (edited 12-31-2000).]

moabtwo
01-04-2001, 06:39 PM
OK, so what is the best firewall to buy? I have zone alarm now.

psyklone
01-04-2001, 07:51 PM
nmap is a decent tool for analyzing your network for vulnerablilities. because of this, it has become a favorite among most of the often-referred-to 'script kiddies' to run against systems to check for an os fingerprint, etc. this in itself isn't that big a deal because most of these low lifes couldn't hack their way into a default install of IIS 4 even though they have a tendency to talk a big game. for the most part it is not a big deal on a windows box as long as you've taken the necessary precautions and not bound file and print sharing to anything unnecessary and haven't installed IIS without applying service packs, and it's not such a big deal on a *nix box as long as you have only installed the packages you need and have checked these packages for vulnerabilities on the many advisory sites available.

safe surfing,

psyklone

moabtwo
01-05-2001, 05:23 AM
kind of what I figured. Everything has it's vulnerabilities if, if, if, if... Thanks for the help.

AJL
01-05-2001, 05:52 AM
Is this exploit also a vulnerability in the Pro version of ZoneAlarm?