[NT] Microsoft Distributed Transaction Controller TIP DoS (MS05-051)

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Microsoft Distributed Transaction Controller TIP DoS (MS05-051)
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SUMMARY

The Distributed Transaction Controller provides a method for disparate
processes to complete atomic transactions. The Transaction Internet
Protocol (TIP) is one the ways that the DTC service can be accessed. This
service is part of a standard installation on Windows NT 4.0, Windows
2000, Windows XP and Windows 2003.

Remote exploitation of a denial of service vulnerability within various
versions of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system allows attackers to
cause the msdtc.exe process to crash.

DETAILS

Vulnerable Systems:
* Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4

The vulnerability specifically exists because of a flaw in processing
responses from foreign servers. The DoS can be triggered by sending a
command sequence that causes the DTC service to connect back to a hostile
server. If the hostile server sends an unexpected protocol command during
the reconnection request, the DTC service will throw an exception and
exit. This attack can be used to kill the DTC service and prevent other
applications from using the service to process transactions.

The following commands can be sent over TCP port 3372 to force the DTC
service to connect to an arbitrary host and process commands:

IDENTIFY 3 3 DST_IP:DST_PORT/ANYID -
PUSH SOMESTRING
PREPARE
RECONNECT

Analysis:
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability will cause applications
requiring the MSDTC service to fail. One such service is Microsoft SQL
Server. Any other applications that rely on clustering to be functional
will also fail. This service should not be exposed to public networks,
thus mitigating the risk of this vulnerability.

Vendor response:
The vendor security advisory and appropriate patches are available at:
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS05-051.mspx>
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS05-051.mspx

CVE Information:
<http://www.cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CAN-2005-1979>
CAN-2005-1979

Disclosure Timeline:
03/23/2005 Initial vendor notification
03/23/2005 Initial vendor response
10/11/2005 Coordinated public disclosure

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The information has been provided by
<mailto:idlabs-advisories@lists.idefense.com> iDEFENSE Labs Security
Advisories.
The original article can be found at:
<http://www.idefense.com/application/poi/display?id=320&type=vulnerabilities> http://www.idefense.com/application/poi/display?id=320&type=vulnerabilities

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