CVE-2011-2465: ISC BIND 9 Remote Crash With Certain RPZ Configurations
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CVE-2011-2465: ISC BIND 9 Remote Crash With Certain RPZ Configurations

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Article summary

ISC BIND 9 Remote Crash with Certain RPZ Configurations

Two defects were discovered in ISC's BIND 9 code. These defects only affect BIND 9 servers which have recursion enabled and which use a specific feature of the software known as Response Policy Zones (RPZ), and where the RPZ zone contains a specific rule/action pattern.

CVECVE-2011-2465

Document Version: 2.1

Posting Date: 05 Jul 2011

Program ImpactedBIND

Versions Affected: 9.8.0, 9.8.0-P1, 9.8.0-P2 and 9.8.1b1. Other versions of BIND 9 not listed here are not vulnerable to this problem.

Severity: High

Exploitable: Remotely

Description

A defect in the affected versions of BIND could cause the "named" process to exit when queried, if the server has recursion enabled and was configured with an RPZ zone containing certain types of records. Specifically, these are any DNAME record and certain kinds of CNAME records.

The patch release of BIND 9.8.0-P4 alters the behavior of RPZ zones by ignoring any DNAME records in an RPZ zone, and correctly returning CNAME records from RPZ zones.

Note that DNAME has no defined effect on the RPZ engine and its presence in an RPZ zone is ignored. The definitive list of meaningful patterns in an RPZ zone is given in the BIND 9 Administrative Reference Manual and also in ISC Technical Note 2010-1.

CVSS Score: 7.8

CVSS Equation: (AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C)

For more information on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System and to obtain your specific environmental score please visit: https://nvd.nist.gov/cvss.cfm?calculator&adv&version=2&vector=(AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C)

Workarounds

Do not put certain CNAME or any DNAME records into an RPZ zone file until your software can be patched. If you subscribe to a service which supplies your RPZ zone data, ensure that it does not contain any DNAME or certain CNAME records. The CNAME records which must not be used are those which signal the RPZ engine to rewrite query names. CNAME records which signal the RPZ engine to forge an NXDOMAIN response are not affected by this defect.

An example of an RPZ rule which causes a query name to be rewritten is:

*.malicious-domain.com CNAME walled-garden.isp.net

An example of an RPZ rule which causes an NXDOMAIN response to be returned is:

*.malicious-domain.com CNAME .

Please refer to the BIND 9 Administrative Reference Manual or to ISC Technical Note 2010-1 for more information about the Response Policy Zone (RPZ) feature which was added to BIND 9 in Version 9.8.0.

Active exploits: ISC received reports of this software flaw and verified the report's accuracy.

Solution

Upgrade to: 9.8.0-P4. (Note that 9.8.0-P3 is not affected but has been replaced by 9.8.0-P4 due to CVE-2011-2464.)

Review the BIND 9 Security Vulnerability Matrix to ensure older versions of BIND are not at risk from an older vulnerability.

Download the appropriate version:

  • ISC releases of BIND 9 software may be downloaded from https://www.isc.org/software/bind
  • If you do not obtain your BIND software directly from ISC, contact your operating system or software vendor for an update.
  • If you are participating in ISC's Beta or release candidate (RC) program, please upgrade. ISC Beta/RC testers are expected to remove vulnerable versions and upgrade. No security advisories are issued for beta / release candidates once the corresponding final release is made.

Acknowledgement: ISC thanks Bryce Moore from TELUS Security Labs for finding and reporting this issue.

Document Revision History

  • Version 1.0 - 14 June 2011: Phase One Disclosure Date
  • Version 1.1 - 20 June 2011: Phase Two Disclosure Date with updates
  • Version 1.2 - 21 June 2011: Updates on beta, RC, and clarity editing
  • Version 1.3 - 24 June 2011: Added document URL
  • Version 1.4 - 28 June 2011:  Updated Solution and description (revised to recommend 9.8.0-P4 per CVE-2011-2464)
  • Version 1.5 - 4 July 2011:  Phase Three and Four Disclosure Date
  • Version 2.0 - 5 July 2011:  Public Disclosure
  • Version 2.1 - 5 July 2011: Added link to BIND 9 Security Vulnerability Matrix and CVSS Worksheet. Added JPRS Partner Link, along with ISC's Spanish and Japanese Translations

References

Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) is providing this notice on an "AS IS" basis. No warranty or guarantee of any kind is expressed in this notice and none should be implied. ISC expressly excludes and disclaims any warranties regarding this notice or materials referred to in this notice, including, without limitation, any implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, absence of hidden defects, or of non-infringement. Your use or reliance on this notice or materials referred to in this notice is at your own risk. ISC may change this notice at any time.

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