DoS risk from Oracle9i debugging bug

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/26678.html

By John Leyden
Posted: 14/08/2002 at 12:56 GMT

A flaw in the debugging mechanism of Oracle9i supplies a mechanism for
crackers to crash vulnerable servers.

All Oracle9i installations are vulnerable to this attack, according to
security tools firm ISS, which discovered the problem. The flaw could
be used to launch denial of service attacks, it warns.

Oracle9i has a debugging facility (enabled by default) which lets
database administrators collect additional information about the
operation of the server.

But the Oracle9i SQL*NET listener does not correctly handle certain
types of debug requests that are submitted over the network. If
Oracle9i encounters such a request, it will crash and no longer field
SQL requests from authorised servers or clients.

Functionality can only be restored after a manual restart, according
to an alert on the problem by ISS.

Oracle has issued a patch to address the issue, which can be obtained
through its Worldwide Support Services Web site.

Admins are also advised to consider filtering SQL*NET port TCP/1521 at
all border gateways to limit access to the Oracle listener and
mitigate the risk of the vulnerability.



-
ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org

To unsubscribe email majordomo () attrition org with 'unsubscribe isn'
in the BODY of the mail.