AOL YGPPDownload AddPictureNoAlbum ActiveX Control Heap Corruption Vulnerability

10.25.06

BACKGROUND

America Online 9.0 Security Edition builds upon Internet Explorer technology to offer its users enhanced security and usability features. More information can be found on the vendors site at the following url:

http://www.corp.aol.com/products/brands_aol2.shtml

DESCRIPTION

America Online 9.0 Security Edition ships with an ActiveX control which is marked as safe for scripting and contains a buffer overflow vulnerability which allows for the arbitrary execution of code.

When AOL 9.0 is installed, it registers the following ActiveX control on the system:

ProgId: AOL.PicDownloadCtrl.1
ClassId: D670D0B3-05AB-4115-9F87-D983EF1AC747
File: YGPPicDownload.dll

This control is registered as safe for scripting in IE and contains a buffer overflow in its AddPictureNoAlbum() method.

ANALYSIS

Exploitation of this vulnerability is trivial and allows for arbitrary execution of code as the currently logged in user. Users would need to be convinced to go to a malicious web site in order to be exploited.

DETECTION

This vulnerability has been verified in AOL Security Edition 9.0 with downloader plugin version 9.2.3.0

WORKAROUND

Disabling Active Scripting or unregistering the vulnerable control can prevent exploitation.

VENDOR RESPONSE

"All AOL software versions are affected by this issue.

Solutions

1. Users of AOL 9.0 or AOL 9.0 Security Edition are recommended to log in to the AOL service and a fix will be seamlessly applied to their system.

2. Users using versions of AOL that are older than 9.0 are strongly recommended to upgrade to the latest version of AOL 9.0 Security Edition."

CVE INFORMATION

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project has assigned the name CVE-2006-5502 to this issue. This is a candidate for inclusion in the CVE list (http://cve.mitre.org), which standardizes names for security problems.

DISCLOSURE TIMELINE

10/12/2006 Initial vendor notification
10/23/2006 Initial vendor response
10/25/2006 Coordinated public disclosure

CREDIT

The vulnerability was discovered by Dennis Rand - CIRT.DK

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