Openswan, IPsec-Tools: Vulnerabilities in ISAKMP Protocol implementation

1. Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Advisory Reference	GLSA 200512-04 / openswan ipsec-tools
Release Date	December 12, 2005
Latest Revision	December 14, 2005: 02
Impact	low
Exploitable	remote

Package	Vulnerable versions	Unaffected versions	Architecture(s)
net-misc/openswan	< 2.4.4	>= 2.4.4	All supported architectures
net-firewall/ipsec-tools	< 0.6.3	>= 0.6.3, revision >= 0.6.2-r1, revision >= 0.4-r2	All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #112568, #113201

Synopsis

Openswan and IPsec-Tools suffer from an implementation flaw which may allow a Denial of Service attack.

2. Impact Information

Background

Openswan is an implementation of IPsec for Linux. IPsec-Tools is a port of KAME's implementation of the IPsec utilities, including racoon, an Internet Key Exchange daemon. Internet Key Exchange version 1 (IKEv1), a derivate of ISAKMP, is an important part of IPsec. IPsec is widely used to secure exchange of packets at the IP layer and mostly used to implement Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).

Description

The Oulu University Secure Programming Group (OUSPG) discovered that various ISAKMP implementations, including Openswan and racoon (included in the IPsec-Tools package), behave in an anomalous way when they receive and handle ISAKMP Phase 1 packets with invalid or abnormal contents.

Impact

A remote attacker could craft specific packets that would result in a Denial of Service attack, if Openswan and racoon are used in specific, weak configurations.

3. Resolution Information

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All Openswan users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=net-misc/openswan-2.4.4"

All IPsec-Tools users should upgrade to the latest version:

Code Listing 3.2: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose net-firewall/ipsec-tools

4. References

Page updated December 12, 2005

Summary: This is a Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

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