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TSRT-06-10: Microsoft HLINK.DLL Hyperlink Object Library Buffer Overflow Vulnerability
August 8th, 2006

CVE ID:

CVE-2006-3086

Affected Vendor:

Microsoft

Affected Products:

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP1 and SP2
Microsoft Windows XP SP1 and SP2
Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4

TippingPoint(TM) IPS Customer Protection:

TippingPoint IPS customers have been protected against this vulnerability since August 8, 2006 by Digital Vaccine protection filter ID 4601. For further product information on the TippingPoint IPS:

   http://www.tippingpoint.com

Vulnerability Details:

This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable applications that utilize Microsoft Hyperlink Component Object Model (COM) objects. Specifically, this includes at least Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel. Exploitation over the web is doable via Office Web Components (OWC). It is not required for the target to have OWC installed.

The specific flaw exists within HLINK.DLL in the routine HrShellOpenWithMonikerDisplayName(). The vulnerability is due to an unchecked WzCopy (wide char string copy) to a stack based buffer from user-supplied data in the following call chain:

  HLNK_Bsc::OnObjectAvailable
    HLNK::HrCompleteNavigation()
      HLNK::HrShowTarget()
        HrShellOpenWithMonikerDisplayName()

The specific WzCopy() responsible for the overflow is shown in the following disassembly snippet from HLINK.DLL version 5.2.3790.227 from Windows XP SP2:

    7682DA6B lea eax, [ebp+overflowed_buffer]     ; dst
    7682DA71 push eax
    7682DA72 push [ebp+var_E30]                   ; src
    7682DA78 call WzCopy(ushort const *,ushort *) ; vulnerable call

The overflowed buffer is at frame pointer offset 0x0E2C, requiring a 3,628 byte write before breaking out of the holding stack frame. Simply specifying a long URI string will not trigger the vulnerability. However, by requesting a URI that does a redirect with the HTTP "Location:" tag to a long URI, then the vulnerable code will be reached and a previous call to HrGetFullDisplayName() will pass the long URI to the vulnerable WzCopy(). The long URI must actually exist, otherwise the URI expansion will fail and the WzCopy() will never be reached.

Vendor Response:

Microsoft has issued an update to correct this vulnerability. More details can be found at:

    http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS06-050.mspx

Disclosure Timeline:

2006.02.28	Vulnerability reported to vendor
2006.08.08	Digital Vaccine released to TippingPoint customers
2006.08.08	Coordinated public release of advisory

Credit:

This vulnerability was discovered by Pedram Amini, TippingPoint Security Research Team.