CA Security Response Blog

On April 15th, 2008 CA published a security notice to address a vulnerability in CA products that implement the DSM gui_cm_ctrls ActiveX control.

Title: CA DSM gui_cm_ctrls ActiveX Control Vulnerability

CA Advisory Date: 2008-04-15

Reported By: Greg Linares of eEye Digital Security

Impact: A remote attacker can execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service condition.

Summary: CA products that implement the DSM gui_cm_ctrls ActiveX control contain a vulnerability that can allow a remote attacker to cause a denial of service or execute arbitrary code. The vulnerability, CVE-2008-1786, is due to insufficient verification of function arguments by the gui_cm_ctrls control. An attacker can execute arbitrary code under the context of the user running the web browser.

Mitigating Factors: For BrightStor ARCserve Backup for Laptops & Desktops, only the server installation is affected. Client installations are not affected. For CA Desktop Management Suite, Unicenter Desktop Management Bundle, Unicenter Asset Management, Unicenter Software Delivery and Unicenter Remote Control, only the Managers and DSM Explorers are affected. Scalability Servers and Agents are not affected.

Severity: CA has given these vulnerabilities a maximum risk rating of High.

Affected Products:
BrightStor ARCServe Backup for Laptops and Desktops r11.5
CA Desktop Management Suite r11.2 C2
CA Desktop Management Suite r11.2 C1
CA Desktop Management Suite r11.2a
CA Desktop Management Suite r11.2
CA Desktop Management Suite r11.1 (GA, a, C1)
Unicenter Desktop Management Bundle r11.2 C2
Unicenter Desktop Management Bundle r11.2 C1
Unicenter Desktop Management Bundle r11.2a
Unicenter Desktop Management Bundle r11.2
Unicenter Desktop Management Bundle r11.1 (GA, a, C1)
Unicenter Asset Management r11.2 C2
Unicenter Asset Management r11.2 C1
Unicenter Asset Management r11.2a
Unicenter Asset Management r11.2
Unicenter Asset Management r11.1 (GA, a, C1)
Unicenter Software Delivery r11.2 C2
Unicenter Software Delivery r11.2 C1
Unicenter Software Delivery r11.2a
Unicenter Software Delivery r11.2
Unicenter Software Delivery r11.1 (GA, a, C1)
Unicenter Remote Control r11.2 C2
Unicenter Remote Control r11.2 C1
Unicenter Remote Control r11.2a
Unicenter Remote Control r11.2
Unicenter Remote Control r11.1 (GA, a, C1)
CA Desktop and Server Management r11.2 C2
CA Desktop and Server Management r11.2 C1
CA Desktop and Server Management r11.2a
CA Desktop and Server Management r11.2
CA Desktop and Server Management r11.1 (GA, a, C1)

Affected Platforms:
Windows

Status and Recommendation:

CA has provided the following updates to address the vulnerabilities.

BrightStor ARCserve Backup for Laptops and Desktops r11.5:
QI96333

CA Desktop Management Suite for Windows r11.1 (GA, a, C1),
Unicenter Desktop Management Bundle r11.1 (GA, a, C1),
Unicenter Asset Management r11.1 (GA, a, C1),
Unicenter Software Delivery r11.1 (GA, a, C1),
Unicenter Remote Control r11.1 (GA, a, C1):
QO96283

CA Desktop Management Suite for Windows r11.2a,
Unicenter Desktop Management Bundle r11.2a,
Unicenter Asset Management r11.2a,
Unicenter Software Delivery r11.2a,
Unicenter Remote Control r11.2a:
QO96286

CA Desktop Management Suite for Windows r11.2,
Unicenter Desktop Management Bundle r11.2,
Unicenter Asset Management r11.2,
Unicenter Software Delivery r11.2,
Unicenter Remote Control r11.2:
QO96285

CA Desktop Management Suite for Windows r11.2 C1,
Unicenter Desktop Management Bundle r11.2 C1,
Unicenter Asset Management r11.2 C1,
Unicenter Software Delivery r11.2 C1,
Unicenter Remote Control r11.2 C1:
QO96284

CA Desktop Management Suite for Windows r11.2 C2,
Unicenter Desktop Management Bundle r11.2 C2,
Unicenter Asset Management r11.2 C2,
Unicenter Software Delivery r11.2 C2,
Unicenter Remote Control r11.2 C2:
QO99084

CA Desktop and Server Management r11.2 C2:
QO99080

CA Desktop and Server Management r11.2 C1:
QO96288

CA Desktop and Server Management r11.2a:
QO96290

CA Desktop and Server Management r11.2:
QO96289

CA Desktop and Server Management r11.1 (GA, a, C1):
QO96287

How to determine if you are affected:

For products on Windows:
1. Using Windows Explorer, locate the file “gui_cm_ctrls.ocx”. By default, the file is in the “C:\Program Files\CA\DSM\bin\” directory.
2. Right click on the file and select Properties.
3. Select the Version tab.
4. If the file version is earlier than indicated in the list below, the installation is vulnerable.

Workaround: As a temporary workaround solution, disable the gui_cm_ctrls ActiveX control in the registry by setting the kill bit on CLSID {E6239EB3-E0B0-46DA-A215-CFA9B3B740C5}. Disabling the control may prevent the GUI from functioning correctly. Refer to Microsoft KB article 240797 for information on how to disable an ActiveX control.

References (URLs may wrap):
CA Support:
http://support.ca.com/
Security Notice for CA products using the DSM gui_cm_ctrls ActiveX control
https://support.ca.com/irj/portal/anonymous/phpsupcontent?contentID=174256
Solution Document Reference APARs:
QI96333, QO96283, QO96286, QO96285, QO96284, QO99084, QO99080, QO96288, QO96290, QO96289, QO96287
CA Security Response Blog posting:
CA DSM gui_cm_ctrls ActiveX Control Vulnerability
http://community.ca.com/blogs/casecurityresponseblog/archive/2008/04/16/[...]vulnerability.aspx
Reported By:
Greg Linares of eEye Digital Security
CVE Reference:
CVE-2008-1786
http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2008-1786
OSVDB References: Pending
http://osvdb.org/

Changelog for this advisory:
v1.0 - Initial Release

Customers who require additional information should contact CA Technical Support at http://support.ca.com.

For technical questions or comments related to this advisory, please send email to vuln AT ca DOT com.

If you discover a vulnerability in CA products, please report your findings to vuln AT ca DOT com, or utilize our "Submit a Vulnerability" form.

URL: http://www.ca.com/us/securityadvisor/vulninfo/submit.aspx