The parse_str function in PHP 4.x up to 4.4.0 and 5.x up to 5.0.5, when called with only one parameter, allows remote attackers to enable the register_globals directive via inputs that cause a request to be terminated due to the memory_limit setting, which causes PHP to set an internal flag that enables register_globals and allows attackers to exploit vulnerabilities in PHP applications that would otherwise be protected.

Updated PHP packages that fix multiple security issues are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 and 4.

This update has been rated as having moderate security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team.

PHP is an HTML-embedded scripting language commonly used with the Apache HTTP Web server.

A flaw was found in the way PHP registers global variables during a file upload request. A remote attacker could submit a carefully crafted multipart/form-data POST request that would overwrite the $GLOBALS array, altering expected script behavior, and possibly leading to the execution of arbitrary PHP commands. Please note that this vulnerability only affects installations which have register_globals enabled in the PHP configuration file, which is not a default or recommended option. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project assigned the name CVE-2005-3390 to this issue.

A flaw was found in the PHP parse_str() function. If a PHP script passes only one argument to the parse_str() function, and the script can be forced to abort execution during operation (for example due to the memory_limit setting), the register_globals may be enabled even if it is disabled in the PHP configuration file. This vulnerability only affects installations that have PHP scripts using the parse_str function in this way. (CVE-2005-3389)

A Cross-Site Scripting flaw was found in the phpinfo() function. If a victim can be tricked into following a malicious URL to a site with a page displaying the phpinfo() output, it may be possible to inject JavaScript or HTML content into the displayed page or steal data such as cookies. This vulnerability only affects installations which allow users to view the output of the phpinfo() function. As the phpinfo() function outputs a large amount of information about the current state of PHP, it should only be used during debugging or if protected by authentication. (CVE-2005-3388)

A denial of service flaw was found in the way PHP processes EXIF image data. It is possible for an attacker to cause PHP to crash by supplying carefully crafted EXIF image data. (CVE-2005-3353)

Users of PHP should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported patches that resolve these issues.

Eric Romang discovered a local Denial of Service vulnerability in the handling of the 'session.save_path' parameter in PHP's Apache 2.0 module. By setting this parameter to an invalid value in an .htaccess file, a local user could crash the Apache server. (CVE-2005-3319)

A Denial of Service flaw was found in the EXIF module. By sending an image with specially crafted EXIF data to a PHP program that automatically evaluates them (e. g. a web gallery), a remote attacker could cause an infinite recursion in the PHP interpreter, which caused the web server to crash. (CVE-2005-3353)

Stefan Esser reported a Cross Site Scripting vulnerability in the phpinfo() function. By tricking a user into retrieving a specially crafted URL to a PHP page that exposes phpinfo(), a remote attacker could inject arbitrary HTML or web script into the output page and possibly steal private data like cookies or session identifiers.
(CVE-2005-3388)

Stefan Esser discovered a vulnerability of the parse_str() function when it is called with just one argument. By calling such programs with specially crafted parameters, a remote attacker could enable the 'register_globals' option which is normally turned off for security reasons. Once this option is enabled, the remote attacker could exploit other security flaws of PHP programs which are normally protected by 'register_globals' being deactivated. (CVE-2005-3389)

Stefan Esser discovered that a remote attacker could overwrite the $GLOBALS array in PHP programs that allow file uploads and run with 'register_globals' enabled. Depending on the particular application, this can lead to unexpected vulnerabilities. (CVE-2005-3390)

The 'gd' image processing and cURL modules did not properly check processed file names against the 'open_basedir' and 'safe_mode' restrictions, which could be exploited to circumvent these limitations. (CVE-2005-3391)

Another bypass of the 'open_basedir' and 'safe_mode' restrictions was found in virtual() function. A local attacker could exploit this to circumvent these restrictions with specially crafted PHP INI files when virtual Apache 2.0 hosts are used. (CVE-2005-3392)

The mb_send_mail() function did not properly check its arguments for invalid embedded line breaks. By setting the 'To:' field of an email to a specially crafted value in a PHP web mail application, a remote attacker could inject arbitrary headers into the sent email.
(CVE-2005-3883).

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.

A number of vulnerabilities were discovered in PHP :

An issue with fopen_wrappers.c would not properly restrict access to other directories when the open_basedir directive included a trailing slash (CVE-2005-3054); this issue does not affect Corporate Server 2.1.

An issue with the apache2handler SAPI in mod_php could allow an attacker to cause a Denial of Service via the session.save_path option in an .htaccess file or VirtualHost stanza (CVE-2005-3319); this issue does not affect Corporate Server 2.1.

A Denial of Service vulnerability was discovered in the way that PHP processes EXIF image data which could allow an attacker to cause PHP to crash by supplying carefully crafted EXIF image data (CVE-2005-3353).

A cross-site scripting vulnerability was discovered in the phpinfo() function which could allow for the injection of JavaScript or HTML content onto a page displaying phpinfo() output, or to steal data such as cookies (CVE-2005-3388).

A flaw in the parse_str() function could allow for the enabling of register_globals, even if it was disabled in the PHP configuration file (CVE-2005-3389).

A vulnerability in the way that PHP registers global variables during a file upload request could allow a remote attacker to overwrite the $GLOBALS array which could potentially lead the execution of arbitrary PHP commands. This vulnerability only affects systems with register_globals enabled (CVE-2005-3390).

The updated packages have been patched to address this issue. Once the new packages have been installed, you will need to restart your Apache server using 'service httpd restart' in order for the new packages to take effect ('service httpd2-naat restart' for MNF2).

Updated PHP packages that fix multiple security issues are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1

This update has been rated as having moderate security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team.

PHP is an HTML-embedded scripting language commonly used with the Apache HTTP Web server.

A flaw was found in the way PHP registers global variables during a file upload request. A remote attacker could submit a carefully crafted multipart/form-data POST request that would overwrite the $GLOBALS array, altering expected script behavior, and possibly leading to the execution of arbitrary PHP commands. Note that this vulnerability only affects installations which have register_globals enabled in the PHP configuration file, which is not a default or recommended option. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project assigned the name CVE-2005-3390 to this issue.

A flaw was found in the PHP parse_str() function. If a PHP script passes only one argument to the parse_str() function, and the script can be forced to abort execution during operation (for example due to the memory_limit setting), the register_globals may be enabled even if it is disabled in the PHP configuration file. This vulnerability only affects installations that have PHP scripts using the parse_str function in this way. (CVE-2005-3389)

A Cross-Site Scripting flaw was found in the phpinfo() function. If a victim can be tricked into following a malicious URL to a site with a page displaying the phpinfo() output, it may be possible to inject JavaScript or HTML content into the displayed page or steal data such as cookies. This vulnerability only affects installations which allow users to view the output of the phpinfo() function. As the phpinfo() function outputs a large amount of information about the current state of PHP, it should only be used during debugging or if protected by authentication. (CVE-2005-3388)

Additionally, a bug introduced in the updates to fix CVE-2004-1019 has been corrected.

Users of PHP should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported patches that resolve these issues.

The remote host is affected by the vulnerability described in GLSA-200511-08 (PHP: Multiple vulnerabilities)

    Multiple vulnerabilities have been found and fixed in PHP:
    a possible $GLOBALS variable overwrite problem through file     upload handling, extract() and import_request_variables()     (CVE-2005-3390)     a local Denial of Service through the use of     the session.save_path option (CVE-2005-3319)     an issue with     trailing slashes in allowed basedirs (CVE-2005-3054)     an issue     with calling virtual() on Apache 2, allowing to bypass safe_mode and     open_basedir restrictions (CVE-2005-3392)     a problem when a     request was terminated due to memory_limit constraints during certain     parse_str() calls (CVE-2005-3389)     The curl and gd modules     allowed to bypass the safe mode open_basedir restrictions     (CVE-2005-3391)     a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in     phpinfo() (CVE-2005-3388)   Impact :

    Attackers could leverage these issues to exploit applications that     are assumed to be secure through the use of proper register_globals,     safe_mode or open_basedir parameters. Remote attackers could also     conduct cross-site scripting attacks if a page calling phpinfo() was     available. Finally, a local attacker could cause a local Denial of     Service using malicious session.save_path options.
  Workaround :

    There is no known workaround that would solve all issues at this     time.

According to its banner, the version of PHP installed on the remote host is older than 4.4.1 or 5.0.6.  Such versions fail to protect the '$GLOBALS' superglobals variable from being overwritten due to weaknesses in the file upload handling code as well as the 'extract()' and 'import_request_variables()' functions.  Depending on the nature of the PHP applications on the affected host, exploitation of this issue may lead to any number of attacks, including arbitrary code execution. 

In addition, these versions may enable an attacker to exploit an integer overflow flaw in certain certain versions of the PCRE library, to enable PHP's 'register_globals' setting even if explicitly disabled in the configuration, and to launch cross-site scripting attacks involving PHP's 'phpinfo()' function.

The remote host is running a version of PHP that is older than 5.0.6. This version has a flaw where remote attackers can reenable the 'register_globals' parameter.  In addition, a remote attacker may be able to overwrite the 'GLOBAL' variable.  This may lead to another more serious exploitation.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
21871	CentOS 3 / 4 : php (CESA-2005:831)	Nessus	CentOS Local Security Checks	high
20776	Ubuntu 4.10 / 5.04 / 5.10 : php4, php5 vulnerabilities (USN-232-1)	Nessus	Ubuntu Local Security Checks	high
20445	Mandrake Linux Security Advisory : php (MDKSA-2005:213)	Nessus	Mandriva Local Security Checks	high
20207	RHEL 2.1 : php (RHSA-2005:838)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	critical
20206	RHEL 3 / 4 : php (RHSA-2005:831)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	high
20195	GLSA-200511-08 : PHP: Multiple vulnerabilities	Nessus	Gentoo Local Security Checks	high
20111	PHP < 4.4.1 / 5.0.6 Multiple Vulnerabilities	Nessus	CGI abuses	high
801113	PHP < 5.0.6 GLOBAL Variable Overwrite	Log Correlation Engine	Web Servers	high

Detections

Analytics

CVE-2005-3389

critical

Tenable Plugins

high

high

high

critical

high

high

high

high