CVE-2007-0796 in WinProxy
Summary
by MITRE
Blue Coat Systems WinProxy 6.1a and 6.0 r1c, and possibly earlier, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a long HTTP CONNECT request, which triggers heap corruption.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/14/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2007-0796 affects Blue Coat Systems WinProxy versions 6.1a and 6.0 r1c, with potential impacts extending to earlier versions. This issue represents a critical security flaw that demonstrates the dangers of improper input validation in network proxy software. The vulnerability stems from the application's failure to adequately handle malformed HTTP CONNECT requests, specifically those containing excessive data lengths that exceed expected buffer boundaries. The flaw manifests when the proxy daemon processes these oversized requests, leading to memory corruption that can result in system instability or potentially unauthorized code execution.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with common software security weaknesses categorized under CWE-121, which deals with stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-122, which addresses heap-based buffer overflow scenarios. The vulnerability operates through a classic buffer management failure where the WinProxy software does not properly validate the length of incoming HTTP CONNECT requests before processing them. This allows attackers to craft specially designed requests that exceed the allocated memory space, causing the application to write beyond its intended buffer boundaries. The heap corruption that results from this behavior creates opportunities for both denial of service attacks that crash the daemon and more sophisticated exploitation attempts that could lead to arbitrary code execution.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risk to organizations relying on Blue Coat WinProxy for network security and content filtering. The remote attack vector means that adversaries can exploit this flaw without requiring local access or authentication, making it particularly dangerous in environments where proxy servers serve as critical network infrastructure components. The potential for denial of service impacts can disrupt business operations by rendering the proxy service unavailable, while the arbitrary code execution capability could allow attackers to gain full control over the affected system. This vulnerability affects the fundamental security posture of organizations using these proxy versions, as it undermines the integrity and availability of their network filtering capabilities.
The exploitation of this vulnerability requires minimal technical expertise and can be accomplished through automated tools that simply construct oversized HTTP CONNECT requests. Attackers can leverage this flaw to either disrupt network services by crashing the proxy daemon or to establish persistent access to the compromised system. The impact extends beyond immediate service disruption to potentially compromise the entire network infrastructure that relies on the proxy for traffic filtering and security enforcement. Organizations should prioritize immediate remediation through official patches provided by Blue Coat Systems, as the vulnerability represents a high-severity risk that could be actively exploited in the wild. Network administrators should also implement monitoring and detection measures to identify potential exploitation attempts, as the vulnerability can be used as part of broader attack campaigns targeting enterprise network infrastructure.