iDEFENSE Security Advisory 11.19.02a:
http://www.idefense.com/advisory/11.19.02a.txt Denial of Service Vulnerability in Linksys Cable/DSL Routers
November 19, 2002
I. BACKGROUND
Linksys Group Inc. currently sells several broadband router products, including:
BEFW11S4, Wireless Access Point Router with 4-Port Switch - Version 2
BEFSR11, EtherFast® Cable/DSL Router
BEFSR41, EtherFast® Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch
BEFSRU31, EtherFast® Cable/DSL Router with USB and 3-Port Switch
More information is available at
http://www.linksys.com/products/group.asp?grid=23 .
II. DESCRIPTION
The BEFW11S4, BEFSR11, BEFSR41 and BEFSRU31 can be crashed when several thousand characters are passed in the password field of the device's web management interface. Exploitation simply requires the use of a web browser that can send long Basic Authentication fields to the affected router's interface.
III. ANALYSIS
Remote exploitation is only possible if the remote web management interface is enabled (this is disabled by default). An attacker on the internal network can access the web management interface by using a web browser and accessing the URL
http://192.168.1.1 (default URL).
IV. DETECTION
The BEFW11S4, BEFSR11, BEFSR41, and BEFSRU31 devices with firmware earlier than version 1.43.3 are affected. iDEFENSE confirmed susceptibility on the BEFW11S4. Linksys indicated that the BEFSR11, BEFSR41 and BEFSRU31 are also affected.
V. WORKAROUND
Disable the remote web management interface on the affected router.
VI. RECOVERY
Cycling power through the affected device should restore normal functionality; pressing the "Reset" button on the router is insufficient.
VII. VENDOR FIX
Linksys firmware 1.43.3, which is available at
http://www.linksys.com/download/, fixes the problem on all the affected devices.
VIII. CVE INFORMATION
The Mitre Corp.'s Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) Project assigned the identification number CAN-2002-1312 to this issue.
IX. DISCLOSURE TIMELINE
11/02/2002 Issue disclosed to iDEFENSE
11/06/2002 Linksys notified (jay.price@linksys.com)
11/11/2002 Linksys response (diana.ying@linksys.com)
11/18/2002 iDEFENSE clients notified
11/19/2002 Public disclosure
X. CREDIT
Alex S. Harasic (aharasic@terra.cl) discovered this vulnerability.
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- -dave
David Endler, CISSP
Director, Technical Intelligence
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