TUCoPS :: Web :: PHP :: sb5998.htm

COMMAND
	PHP CGI priviledge escalation and remote file compromise
SYSTEMS AFFECTED
	PHP/CGI version 4.3.0
PROBLEM
	Thank Kosmas Skiadopoulos for discovering this vulnerability, posted by
	The PHP Group :
	
	PHP contains code for preventing direct access to the CGI binary with
	configure option "--enable-force-cgi-redirect" and php.ini option
	"cgi.force_redirect". In PHP 4.3.0 there is a bug which renders these
	options useless.
	 
	NOTE: This bug does NOT affect any of the other SAPI modules.
	 (such as the Apache or ISAPI modules, etc.)
	
	
	 Impact
	 ======
	
	Anyone with access to websites hosted on a web server which employs the
	CGI module may exploit this vulnerability to gain access to any file
	readable by the user under which the webserver runs.
	
	A remote attacker could also trick PHP into executing arbitrary PHP
	code if attacker is able to inject the code into files accessible by
	the CGI. This could be for example the web server access-logs.
SOLUTION
	The PHP Group has released a new PHP version, 4.3.1, which incorporates
	a fix for the vulnerability. All users of affected PHP versions are
	encouraged to upgrade to this latest version. The downloads web site at
	
	 http://www.php.net/downloads.php
	 
	has the new 4.3.1 source tarballs, Windows binaries and source patch
	from 4.3.0 available for download. You will only need to upgrade if
	you're using the CGI module of PHP 4.3.0. There are no other bugfixes
	contained in this release.