gnutls security update (RHSA-2014-0594)

Original Release Date: July 31, 2014
Last Revised: August 9, 2016
Number: ASA-2014-292
Risk Level: Medium
Advisory Version: 8.0
Advisory Status: Final

1. Overview:

The GnuTLS library provides support for cryptographic algorithms and for protocols such as Transport Layer Security (TLS). The gnutls packages also include the libtasn1 library, which provides Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1) parsing and structures management, and Distinguished Encoding Rules (DER) encoding and decoding functions.

A flaw was found in the way GnuTLS parsed session IDs from ServerHello messages of the TLS/SSL handshake. A malicious server could use this flaw to send an excessively long session ID value, which would trigger a buffer overflow in a connecting TLS/SSL client application using GnuTLS, causing the client application to crash or, possibly, execute arbitrary code. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2014-3466 to this issue.

It was discovered that the asn1_get_bit_der() function of the libtasn1 library incorrectly reported the length of ASN.1-encoded data. Specially crafted ASN.1 input could cause an application using libtasn1 to perform an out-of-bounds access operation, causing the application to crash or, possibly, execute arbitrary code. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2014-3468 to this issue.

Multiple incorrect buffer boundary check issues were discovered in libtasn1. Specially crafted ASN.1 input could cause an application using libtasn1 to crash. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2014-3467 to this issue.

Multiple NULL pointer dereference flaws were found in libtasn1's asn1_read_value() function. Specially crafted ASN.1 input could cause an application using libtasn1 to crash, if the application used the aforementioned function in a certain way. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2014-3469 to this issue.

More information about these vulnerabilities can be found in the security advisory issued by Red Hat:

2. Avaya System Products using a modified version of RHEL5 with affected packages installed:

Product: Affected Version(s): Risk Level: Actions:
Avaya Aura® Application Enablement Services 5.x, 6.1 through 6.3.3 Low Upgrade to 6.3.3 and install Linux Security Update 1.
For 6.3.3 install Linux Security Update 1.
Avaya IQ 5.2 through 5.2.5 Medium Upgrade to 5.2.6 and install Patch 2 or later.
Avaya Aura® Communication Manager 6.0 through 6.3 Low Upgrade to 6.3 and install Security Service Pack 4 or later.
Avaya Communication Server 1000:
  • CS1000E
  • CS1000M
  • CS1000E/CS1000M Signaling Server
6.x, 7.x Low See recommended actions and Mitigating Factors table below. This advisory will not be addressed as no further releases are planned.
Avaya Aura® Conferencing Standard Edition 6.x Medium See recommended actions and Mitigating Factors table below. This advisory will not be addressed as no further releases are planned. It is recommended that customers migrate to one of Avaya's conferencing solutions including Aura® Conferencing 7.0 or later.
Avaya IP Office Application Server 8.x Medium Upgrade to 9.1.4 or later.
Avaya Meeting Exchange 5.x, 6.0 through 6.2 SP2 Medium Upgrade to 6.2 SP3 or later.
Avaya Aura® Messaging 6.0 through 6.3 SP1 Low Install 6.3 SP2 or later.
Avaya one-X® Client Enablement Services 6.1.x Medium Upgrade to 6.2.4 or later.
Avaya Aura® Presence Services 6.x Medium Upgrade to Aura Presence Services 7.0 or later. Further information about this version, as well as the overall Aura 7.0 release, is available on support.avaya.com.
Avaya Proactive Contact 5.x through 5.1.1 Medium Upgrade to 5.1.2 or later.
Avaya Aura® Session Manager 5.x, 6.2.x Low Upgrade to 7.0 or later.
Avaya Aura® System Manager 6.1 through 6.3.9 Medium Upgrade to 6.3.10 or later.
Avaya Aura® System Platform 1.x, 6.0 through 6.3.4 Low Upgrade to 6.3.5 or later.
Avaya Aura® Utility Services 6.1.x through 6.3 SP6 Medium Upgrade to 6.3 SP7 or later.

Recommended Actions for System Products:
Avaya strongly recommends following networking and security best practices by implementing firewalls, ACLs, physical security or other appropriate access restrictions. Though Avaya believes such restrictions should always be in place, risk to Avaya products and the surrounding network from this potential vulnerability may be mitigated by ensuring these practices are implemented until such time as an Avaya provided product update or the recommended Avaya action is applied. Further restrictions as deemed necessary based on the customer's security policies may be required during this interim period, but the System Product operating system or application should not be modified unless the change is approved by Avaya. Making changes that are not approved may void the Avaya product service contract.

Mitigating Factors:

When determining risk, Avaya takes into account many factors as outlined by Avaya's Security Vulnerability Classification Policy. The following table describes factors that mitigate the risk of specific vulnerabilities for affected Avaya products:

Vulnerability Mitigating Factors
CVE-2014-3466
CVE-2014-3467
CVE-2014-3468
CVE-2014-3469
These are a Medium risk for IQ, Conferencing SE, Meeting Exchange, IP Office AS, one-X CES, Presence Sevices, Proactive Contact, System manager and Utility Services due to the potential to cause applications or processes to crash.
This is a Low for Appication Enablement Services, Communication Manager, CS1000, Messaging and Session Manager because gnuTLS is not used by default or only debugging tools use it and access to debugging tools are limited to administrative users

3. Avaya Software-Only Products:

Avaya software-only products operate on general-purpose operating systems. Occasionally vulnerabilities may be discovered in the underlying operating system or applications that come with the operating system. These vulnerabilities often do not impact the software-only product directly but may threaten the integrity of the underlying platform.

In the case of this advisory Avaya software-only products are not affected by the vulnerability directly but the underlying Linux platform may be. Customers should determine on which Linux operating system the product was installed and then follow that vendor's guidance.

Product: Actions:
Avaya Aura® Application Enablement Services Depending on the Operating System installed, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the AES application.
CVLAN Depending on the Operating System installed, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the CVLAN application.
Avaya Aura® Experience Portal Depending on the Operating System installed, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the EP application.
Avaya Integrated Management Suite (IMS) Depending on the Operating System installed, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the IMS application.
Avaya Aura® Presence Services Depending on the Operating System installed, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the PS application.
Avaya Secure Access Link Gateway Depending on the Operating System installed, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the SAL Gateway application.

Recommended Actions for Software-Only Products:
In the event that the affected package is installed, Avaya recommends following recommended actions supplied by Red Hat regarding their Enterprise Linux.

4. Additional Information:

Additional information may also be available via the Avaya support website and through your Avaya account representative. Please contact your Avaya product support representative, or dial 1-800-242-2121, with any questions.

5. Disclaimer:

ALL INFORMATION IS BELIEVED TO BE CORRECT AT THE TIME OF PUBLICATION AND IS PROVIDED "AS IS". AVAYA INC., ON BEHALF ITSELF AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES AND AFFILIATES (HEREINAFTER COLLECTIVELY REFERRED TO AS "AVAYA"), DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND FURTHERMORE, AVAYA MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES THAT THE STEPS RECOMMENDED WILL ELIMINATE SECURITY OR VIRUS THREATS TO CUSTOMERS' SYSTEMS. IN NO EVENT SHALL AVAYA BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE INFORMATION OR RECOMMENDED ACTIONS PROVIDED HEREIN, INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, STATUTORY, CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF AVAYA HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HERE DOES NOT AFFECT THE SUPPORT AGREEMENTS IN PLACE FOR AVAYA PRODUCTS. SUPPORT FOR AVAYA PRODUCTS CONTINUES TO BE EXECUTED AS PER EXISTING AGREEMENTS WITH AVAYA.

6. Revision History:

V 1.0 - July 31, 2014 - Initial Statement issued.
V 2.0 - February 26, 2015 - Updated CM, Messaging, SMGR, SP and CMUS affected versions and actions.
V 3.0 - June 15, 2015 - Updated AES affected versions and actions.
V 4.0 - September 3, 2015 - Updated IQ, one-X CES and SM affected versions and actions.
V 5.0 - September 17, 2015 - Updated PS actions.
V 6.0 - October 15, 2015 - Updated IPOAS actions.
V 7.0 - July 25, 2016 - Updated Proactive Contact affected versions and actions.
V 8.0 - August 9, 2016 - Updated Meeting Exchange affected versions and actions, and advisory set to Final.

Avaya customers or Business Partners should report any security issues found with Avaya products via the standard support process.
Independent security researchers can contact Avaya at [email protected].

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