SYMSA-2007-003 Macrovision InstallAnywhere Password and Serial Number Bypass

[research () symantec com]

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                     Symantec Vulnerability Research                                   
                     http://www.symantec.com/research
                           Security Advisory

   Advisory ID: SYMSA-2007-003
Advisory Title: Macrovision InstallAnywhere Password and Serial
                Number Bypass
        Author: Brian Reilly / brian_reilly () symantec com
  Release Date: 28-02-2007
   Application: Macrovision InstallAnywhere Enterprise
                (all versions)
      Platform: All
      Severity: Local Authorization Bypass
 Vendor status: Verified by vendor
    CVE Number: CVE-2007-1009
     Reference: http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/22643


Overview:

        Macrovision’s InstallAnywhere (acquired from Zero G Software in
        June 2005) is a program to build multiplatform installers, and is
        frequently used to distribute web services and J2EE applications.
        InstallAnywhere Enterprise offers the ability to require a serial
        number and/or a password as a   prerequisite to installing an
        application.  However, it is possible to modify specific
        configuration files included in an InstallAnywhere package to
        circumvent these controls

Details:

        InstallAnywhere packages include an XML project configuration file
        named   InstallScript.iap_xml.  This file controls the behavior of
        the     installation process, including verification of a password
        and/or serial   number (if applicable).

        Upon starting an installer, a directory is created in temporary
        disk space.  This directory contains multiple files, including a
        ZIP archive     that contains the XML project file.  A LaunchAnywhere
        executable is also created during the installation process and is
        used to launch the actual       Java application installer.
        It is possible to bypass serial number and password controls by
        creating a copy of this temporary directory, extracting a copy of
        the XML project file from the ZIP archive, deleting the relevant
        serial number or password       verification sections from the XML
        project file, replacing the modifiedXML project file in the ZIP
        archive, and then manually starting the installation process via
        the included LaunchAnywhere executable.

Vendor Response:

        Macrovision has confirmed the reports provided by Symantec and
        updated InstallAnywhere to resolve the issue.  Current
        InstallAnywhere customers will be encouraged to install version
        8.0.1 as soon as it becomes available (estimated mid April).
        More information regarding this version will be posted in the
        release notes.

        Macrovision will advise all users of InstallAnywhere to upgrade
        to 8.0.1 as soon as it becomes available.  Registered users of the
        software will be electronically notified of the availability of
        the release and directed to the necessary files. 

Recommendation:
        Developers should securely implement their own application-level
        controls as needed, independent of the InstallAnywhere installer.


Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) Information:

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project has assigned
the following names to these issues.  These are candidates for
inclusion in the CVE list (http://cve.mitre.org), which standardizes
names for security problems.


  CVE-2007-1009

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