Revision History
None

Severity
Medium

Remote	Yes
Local	No
Authentication Required	Yes
Exploit publicly available	No

Overview
The Backup Exec for Windows Server and Remote Agents for Window Server, also used by the Continuous Protection Server and Backup Exec for Netware Server, are vulnerable to heap overflows from specifically formatted internal network calls to RPC interfaces.

Affected Products

Product	Version	Build	Solution(s)
Backup Exec for Windows Server and Remote Agent	9.1	9.1.4691	HotFix Available
Backup Exec for Windows Server and Remote Agent	10.0	10.0.5484	HotFix Available
Backup Exec for Windows Server and Remote Agent	10.0	10.0.5520	HotFix Available
Backup Exec for Windows Server and Remote Agent	10.1	10.1.5629	HotFix Available
Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server Remote Agent for Windows Server	10.1	10.1.325.6301	HotFix Available
Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server Remote Agent for Windows Server	10.1	10.1.326.1401	HotFix Available
Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server Remote Agent for Windows Server	10.1	10.1.326.2501	HotFix Available
Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server Remote Agent for Windows Server	10.1	10.1.326.3301	HotFix Available
Backup Exec Continuous Protection Server Remote Agent for Windows Server	10.1	10.1.327.401	HotFix Available
Backup Exec for Netware Server Remote Agent for Windows Server	9.1	All	HotFix Available
Backup Exec for Netware Server Remote Agent for Windows Server	9.2	All	HotFix Available

Note: ONLY the products and versions listed above are affected by these issues.

Product versions prior to those listed above are NOT supported. Customers running legacy product versions should upgrade and apply available updates.

Details
Tenable Network Security, notified Symantec of heap overflow issues they identified in the RPC interfaces of the Backup Exec for Window Servers and Remote Agents. The Remote Agent for Windows Server (RAWS) is also used by the Continuous Protection Server as well as Backup Exec for Netware Server depending on the customer's network environment. The overflows occur due to improper validation and subsequent handling of user input. Successful exploitation would require the attacker to have authorized but non-privileged access to the network on which the target system resides. A malicious user who attempted such an attack may cause the targeted application to crash but, if successfully exploited, could potentially execute arbitrary code and gain elevated privilege on the targeted system.

Symantec Response
Symantec engineers did an in-depth review of the reported issues and related file functionality to further enhance the overall security of Symantec Backup Exec for Windows Server and the Remote Agent for Windows Server and to resolve any additional potential concerns. Symantec engineers have addressed these issues in all currently supported versions of the products identified above. Security updates are available for all supported products.

Symantec strongly recommends all customers apply the latest security update as indicated for their supported product versions to protect against threats of this nature.

Symantec knows of no exploitation of or adverse customer impact from these issues.

The patches listed above for affected products are available from the following location:
http://support.veritas.com/docs/284343 for Symantec Backup Exec for Windows Server and Continuous Protection Server and http://support.veritas.com/docs/284623 for Backup Exec for Netware Server.

Best Practices
As part of normal best practices, Symantec recommends:

• Restrict access to administration or management systems to authorized privileged users
• Block remote access to all ports not essential for efficient operation
• Restrict remote access, if required, to trusted/authorized systems only
• Remove/disable unnecessary accounts or restrict access according to security policy as required
• Run under the principle of least privilege where possible
• Keep all operating systems and applications updated with the latest vendor patches
• Follow a multi-layered approach to security. Run both firewall and antivirus applications, at a minimum, to provide multiple points of detection and protection to both inbound and outbound threats
• Deploy network intrusion detection systems to monitor network traffic for signs of anomalous or suspicious activity. This may aid in detection of attacks or malicious activity related to exploitation of latest vulnerabilities

CVE
A CVE Candidate name has been requested from the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) initiative for this issue. This advisory will be revised accordingly upon receipt of the CVE Candidate name. This issue is a candidate for inclusion in the CVE list (http://cve.mitre.org), which standardizes names for security problems.

Credit
Symantec thanks Nicolas Pouvesle from Tenable Network Security for reporting this finding and for excellent coordination while Symantec resolved the issue.

Symantec takes the security and proper functionality of its products very seriously. As founding members of the Organization for Internet Safety (OISafety), Symantec follows the principles of responsible disclosure. Symantec also subscribes to the vulnerability guidelines outlined by the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC). Please contact secure@symantec.com if you feel you have discovered a potential or actual security issue with a Symantec product. A Symantec Product Security team member will contact you regarding your submission.

Symantec has developed a Product Vulnerability Handling Process document outlining the process we follow in addressing suspected vulnerabilities in our products. We support responsible disclosure of all vulnerability information in a timely manner to protect Symantec customers and the security of the Internet as a result of vulnerability. This document is available from the location provided below.

Symantec strongly recommends using encrypted email for reporting vulnerability information to secure@symantec.com. The Symantec Product Security PGP key can be obtained from the location provided below.

Symantec Vulnerability Response Policy

Symantec Product Vulnerability Management PGP Key

Copyright (c) 2008 by Symantec Corp.
Permission to redistribute this alert electronically is granted as long as it is not edited in any way unless authorized by Symantec Security Response. Reprinting the whole or part of this alert in any medium other than electronically requires permission from secure@symantec.com.

Disclaimer
The information in the advisory is believed to be accurate at the time of publishing based on currently available information. Use of the information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition. There are no warranties with regard to this information. Neither the author nor the publisher accepts any liability for any direct, indirect, or consequential loss or damage arising from use of, or reliance on, this information.

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