SECNAP Security Advisory: Invalid HTML processing in GoldMine(tm)

[<scheidell () secnap net>]

Weakness in GoldMine(tm) Email Manager allows arbitrary code execution
Systems: GoldMine 5.70 and 6.00 prior to version 30503
Vulnerable: 5.70.11111,5.70.20404,6.00.21021,6.00.30203,6.00.30403
Not Vulnerable: 5.70.30503, 6.00.30503
Severity: Serious
Category: Arbitrary Execution of Code of Hackers Choice
Classification: Input Validation Error
BugTraq-ID: TBA 
CVE-Number: CAN-2003-0241
Remote Exploit: yes
Local Exploit: no
Vendor URL: www.frontrange.com
Author: Michael S. Scheidell, SECNAP Network Security 
Scheduled Release date: May 29th, 2003
Notifications: FrontRange(tm) notified April 27th, 2003, Fix released May 29th, 2003

Discussion: (From FrontRange web site)
Quickly and easily equips professionals, SOHOs (Small Offices/Home Offices), small businesses and teams with automated 
customer/contact management and workgroup tools.

Problem: By sending a specially mal-crafted email to a user who opens it with the GoldMine mail agent, a hacker can run 
arbitrary code of the hackers choice on the users computer. This includes remote trojans, irc zombies, spyware, 
malware, remote key loggers, or any program a hackers wants to. This program will be running inside the corporate 
network, behind the firewall and access anything the infected user has access to. The GoldMine mail agent does not even 
run the html email in the 'security zone' as does Microsoft(tm) Outlook, but passes anything that looks like HTML to be 
executed unrestricted directly to the default Browser (usually IE). 

User does not even have to open the email, as the default 'preview' option will pass the first few lines of the email 
to IE which will trigger the exploit, in fact, just highlighting the email in order to delete it could trigger the 
exploit.

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project has assigned the name CAN-2003-0241 
<http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CAN-2003-0241> this issue. This is a candidate for inclusion in the CVE 
list (<http://cve.mitre.org>), which standardizes names for security problems.

Exploit: No exploit is necessary, as there are already examples in viruses and trojans that were designed to attack 
Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express. 

Microsoft fixed these by patching both readers and allowing the user to set the security zone for reading HTML email in 
the 'insecure' settings.

To see an exhaustive list of what can happen when email is passed to IE, see <http://www.guninski.com/browsers.html>

Vendor Response: FrontRange immediately verified the existence of this vulnerability, created a patch and scheduled its 
release as soon as QA testing was done. FrontRange is concerned about it's users security and has issued a patch on May 
29th for their current 6.0 version, as well as their legacy 5.70 version.

Solution: FrontRange advises its clients that they should upgrade to the latest version of GoldMine Business Contact 
Manager. Please see FrontRange support page for more information: <http://support.frontrange.com/>.

SECNAP has tested FrontRange provided solution on 5.70.30503 and it runs HTML through IE restricted security zone now, 
just like outlook and outlook express.  If you still fail the test, you need to check the IE restricted security zone 
settings.

Workaround:
If you cannot upgrade, then you should immediately disable IE as email viewer, in "Edit >> Preferences >> Internet >> 
More Options >> Advanced"

Administrators can change user preferences from "File >> Configure >> User Settings" or via editing the users ini files 
and change [Internet] section EmailReadertype to 1

[Internet]
EmailReaderType=1

To test to see if you are vulnerable, you can send a blank email to gmtest () secnap net Note: this test will be 
discontinued after July 1st, 2003 and is only available to GoldMine email).

Michael Scheidell, SECNAP Network Security, www.secnap.net

Credit: 
The original problem with IIE, Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express was found by George Grunski and involved insecure 
default reading of a malformed HTML Email in Outlook and OE and insecure running of HTML (see 
<http://www.guninski.com/browsers.html>). Also, thanks to Jeff Bell, VP Information Technology, Zino Mortgage 
<http://www.zinomortgage.com> and Angel Alexander Magaña of FrontRange for their assistance in verifying the problem.

Original copy of this report can be found here
<http://www.secnap.net/security/gm001.html>

Copyright:
Above Copyright(c) 2003, SECNAP Network Security, LLC. World rights reserved.

This security report can be copied and redistributed electronically provided it is not edited and is quoted in its 
entirety without written consent of SECNAP Network Security, LLC. Additional information or
permission may be obtained by contacting SECNAP Network Security at 561-368-9561
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