Security Advisory: (BEA07-148.01)

From: BEA Systems Inc.

Minor Subject: Malformed headers may cause high disk consumption

Product(s) Affected: WebLogic Server and WebLogic Express

This security advisory (BEA07-148.01) contains updated information in Section II.

This security advisory (BEA07-148.01) contains a corrected patch for WebLogic Server 6.1. Please disregard Security Advisory BEA07-148.00 as this advisory BEA07-148.01 supersedes it.

Threat level: High
An attacker may be able to create a denial of service condition

Severity: Medium
An exploit of this attack may cause the server log to exceed available disk space

A problem was identified that could potentially cause a security vulnerability in certain versions of WebLogic Server. Patches are available to correct this problem (see Section II). BEA Systems treats potential security problems with a high degree of urgency and endeavors to take appropriate steps to help ensure the security of our customers' systems. As a result, BEA Systems strongly suggests the following actions:

I. Read the following advisory.
II. Apply the suggested action.
III. If you know of any additional users interested in future security advisories, please forward them the registration instructions included in this advisory.

I. Advisory

An error handling condition involving malformed headers could result in the server log utilizing significant disk space and potentially the entire disk. An attacker can exploit this condition to create a denial-of-service situation.

This advisory resolves the issue by suppressing the error logging for this situation.

The following versions of WebLogic Server and WebLogic Express are affected by this vulnerability

• WebLogic Server 7.0 released through Service Pack 7, on all platforms
• WebLogic Server 6.1 released through Service Pack 7, on all platforms

II. SUGGESTED ACTION

BEA Systems strongly recommends the following course of actions.

WebLogic Server and WebLogic Express version 7.0

1. Upgrade to WebLogic Server and WebLogic Express 7.0 Service Pack 7.
2. Install the patch from:
   ftp://anonymous:dev2dev%40bea.com@ftpna.bea.com/pub/releases/security/CR276586_700sp7.jar
3. Place the jar for the patch in the CLASSPATH before the weblogic.jar file.

WebLogic Server and WebLogic Express version 6.1

1. Upgrade to WebLogic Server and WebLogic Express 6.1 Service Pack 7.
2. Install the patch from:
   ftp://anonymous:dev2dev%40bea.com@ftpna.bea.com/pub/releases/security/CR276586_610sp7_v2.jar
3. Place the jar for the patch in the CLASSPATH before the weblogic.jar file.

BEA strongly suggests that customers apply the remedies recommended in all our security advisories. BEA also urges customers to apply every Service Pack as they are released. Service Packs include a roll-up of all bug fixes for each version of the product, as well as each of the prior Service Packs. Service Packs and information about them can be found at:

WebLogic Server: http://commerce.bea.com/showallversions.jsp?family=WLS

WebLogic Platform: http://commerce.bea.com/showallversions.jsp?family=WLP

Note: Information about securing WebLogic Server and WebLogic Express can be found at http://edocs.bea.com/wls/docs81/security.html. Specific lockdown information is provided at http://edocs.bea.com/wls/docs81/lockdown/index.html. We strongly encourage you to review this documentation to ensure your server deployment is securely configured.

III. REFERENCES

BEA Systems greatly appreciates the contributions from the following professional organizations for their assistance in investigating this matter:

nCircle VERT

IV. FUTURE SECURITY COMMUNICATIONS

If there are security-related issues with BEA product, BEA Systems generally distributes an advisory and instructions with a recommended course of action. Because the security of your site, data, and code is a high priority, we are committed to generally communicating security-related issues to our customers and partners.

All previous advisories can be viewed at http://dev2dev.bea.com/advisoriesnotifications/

BEA Systems has established an opt-in emailing list specifically targeted for product security advisories and notifications. As a policy, if a user has opted-in to our emailing list and there is a relevant security issue with the BEA product(s) he/she is using, BEA generally distributes an advisory and instructions via email with a recommended course of action.

ADDITIONAL USERS WHO WISH TO REGISTER FOR ADVISORY DISTRIBUTION SHOULD FOLLOW THE REGISTRATION DIRECTIONS AT http://dev2dev.bea.com/advisoriesnotifications/

V. REPORTING SECURITY ISSUES

Security issues can be reported to BEA by sending email to secalert@bea.com or by following the directions at http://dev2dev.bea.com/advisoriesnotifications/. If BEA has validated a reported security issue, we will endeavor to assess the severity of the impact of the security issue and the likelihood of the exploitation of the vulnerability. Based on these assessments and other factors, BEA will endeavor to develop and appropriately prioritize a workaround or patch designed to reduce or eliminate the risk of the vulnerability.

If you have any questions or care to verify the authenticity of this advisory, please contact BEA Technical Support at support@bea.com

Thank you,
BEA Systems, Inc.