Issued:
2012-05-21
Updated:
2012-05-21

RHSA-2012:0681 - Moderate: tomcat6 security and bug fix update

Synopsis

Moderate: tomcat6 security and bug fix update

Type/Severity

Security Advisory Moderate

Topic

An update for the Apache Tomcat 6 component for JBoss Enterprise Web Server 1.0.2 that fixes multiple security issues and three bugs is now available from the Red Hat Customer Portal.

The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having moderate security impact. Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base scores, which give detailed severity ratings, are available for each vulnerability from the CVE links in the References section.

Description

Apache Tomcat is a servlet container.

JBoss Enterprise Web Server includes the Tomcat Native library, providing Apache Portable Runtime (APR) support for Tomcat. References in this text to APR refer to the Tomcat Native implementation, not any other apr package.

This update fixes the JBPAPP-4873, JBPAPP-6133, and JBPAPP-6852 bugs. It also resolves the following security issues:

Multiple flaws weakened the Tomcat HTTP DIGEST authentication implementation, subjecting it to some of the weaknesses of HTTP BASIC authentication, for example, allowing remote attackers to perform session replay attacks. (CVE-2011-1184, CVE-2011-5062, CVE-2011-5063, CVE-2011-5064)

A flaw was found in the way the Coyote (org.apache.coyote.ajp.AjpProcessor) and APR (org.apache.coyote.ajp.AjpAprProcessor) Tomcat AJP (Apache JServ Protocol) connectors processed certain POST requests. An attacker could send a specially-crafted request that would cause the connector to treat the message body as a new request. This allows arbitrary AJP messages to be injected, possibly allowing an attacker to bypass a web application's authentication checks and gain access to information they would otherwise be unable to access. The JK (org.apache.jk.server.JkCoyoteHandler) connector is used by default when the APR libraries are not present. The JK connector is not affected by this flaw. (CVE-2011-3190)

A flaw in the way Tomcat recycled objects that contain data from user requests (such as IP addresses and HTTP headers) when certain errors occurred. If a user sent a request that caused an error to be logged, Tomcat would return a reply to the next request (which could be sent by a different user) with data from the first user's request, leading to information disclosure. Under certain conditions, a remote attacker could leverage this flaw to hijack sessions. (CVE-2011-3375)

The Java hashCode() method implementation was susceptible to predictable hash collisions. A remote attacker could use this flaw to cause Tomcat to use an excessive amount of CPU time by sending an HTTP request with a large number of parameters whose names map to the same hash value. This update introduces a limit on the number of parameters processed per request to mitigate this issue. The default limit is 512 for parameters and 128 for headers. These defaults can be changed by setting the org.apache.tomcat.util.http.Parameters.MAX_COUNT and org.apache.tomcat.util.http.MimeHeaders.MAX_COUNT system properties. (CVE-2011-4858)

Tomcat did not handle large numbers of parameters and large parameter values efficiently. A remote attacker could make Tomcat use an excessive amount of CPU time by sending an HTTP request containing a large number of parameters or large parameter values. This update introduces limits on the number of parameters and headers processed per request to address this issue. Refer to the CVE-2011-4858 description for information about the org.apache.tomcat.util.http.Parameters.MAX_COUNT and org.apache.tomcat.util.http.MimeHeaders.MAX_COUNT system properties. (CVE-2012-0022)

A flaw in the Tomcat MemoryUserDatabase. If a runtime exception occurred when creating a new user with a JMX client, that user's password was logged to Tomcat log files. Note: By default, only administrators have access to such log files. (CVE-2011-2204)

A flaw in the way Tomcat handled sendfile request attributes when using the HTTP APR or NIO (Non-Blocking I/O) connector. A malicious web application running on a Tomcat instance could use this flaw to bypass security manager restrictions and gain access to files it would otherwise be unable to access, or possibly terminate the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). The HTTP NIO connector is used by default in JBoss Enterprise Web Server. (CVE-2011-2526)

Red Hat would like to thank oCERT for reporting CVE-2011-4858, and the Apache Tomcat project for reporting CVE-2011-2526. oCERT acknowledges Julian Wälde and Alexander Klink as the original reporters of CVE-2011-4858.

Solution

All users of JBoss Enterprise Web Server 1.0.2 as provided from the Red Hat Customer Portal are advised to apply this update.

The References section of this erratum contains a download link (you must log in to download the update). Before applying the update, back up your existing JBoss Enterprise Web Server installation (including all applications and configuration files).

Tomcat must be restarted for this update to take effect.

Affected Products

ProductVersionArch
JBoss Enterprise Web ServerText-Only Advisoriesx86_64

Fixes

CVEs

References

Additional information