Zone Labs Security Advisory Severity: Low

Bypassing Personal Firewall Using “DDE-IPC”

Date Published : September 29, 2005
Date Last Revised : September 29, 2005

Overview :

Debasis Mohanty published a notice about a potential security issue with personal firewalls to several security email lists on September 28th, 2005 . Zone Labs has investigated his claims and has determined that current versions of Zone Labs and Check Point end-point security products are not vulnerable.

Description:

The proof-of-concept code published uses the Windows API function ShellExecute() to launch a trusted program that is used to access the network on behalf of the untrusted program, thereby accessing the network without warning from the firewall.

Impact :

If successfully exploited, a malicious program may be able to access the network via a trusted program. The ability to access the network would be limited to the functionality of the trusted program.

Unaffected Products:

ZoneAlarm Pro, ZoneAlarm AntiVirus, ZoneAlarm Wireless Security, and ZoneAlarm Security Suite version 6.0 or later automatically protect against this attack in the default configuration.

ZoneAlarm Pro, ZoneAlarm AntiVirus, ZoneAlarm Wireless Security, and ZoneAlarm Security Suite version 5.5 are protected against this attack by enabling the “Advanced Program Control” feature.

Check Point Integrity client versions 6.0 and 5.1 are protected against this attack by enabling the “Advanced Program Control” feature.

Affected Products:

ZoneAlarm free versions lack the "Advanced Program Control" feature and are therefore unable to prevent this bypass technique.

Recommended Actions:
Subscribers should upgrade to the latest version of their ZoneAlarm product or enable the “Advanced Program Control” feature.

Related Resources:

Contact : Zone Labs customers who are concerned about this vulnerabilities or have additional technical questions may reach our Technical Support group at: http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en/support/zonealarm-service-support.htm . To report security issues with Zone Labs products contact security@zonealarm.com . Note that any other matters sent to this email address will not receive a response.

Disclaimer : The information in the advisory is believed to be accurate at the time of publishing based on currently available information. Use of the information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition. There are no warranties with regard to this information. Neither the author nor the publisher accepts any liability for any direct, indirect, or consequential loss or damage arising from use of, or reliance on, this information. Zone Labs and Zone Labs products, are registered trademarks of Zone Labs Incorporated. and/or affiliated companies in the United States and other countries. All other registered and unregistered trademarks represented in this document are the sole property of their respective companies/owners.

Copyright : ©2005 Zone Labs LLC All rights reserved. Zone Labs, TrueVector, ZoneAlarm, and Cooperative Enforcement are registered trademarks of Zone Labs LLC. The Zone Labs logo, Check Point Integrity and IMsecure are trademarks of Zone Labs, LLC. Check Point Integrity protected under U.S. Patent No. 5,987,611. Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off. Cooperative Enforcement is a service mark of Zone Labs LLC All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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