Zero-day vulnerability in PyBitmessage

Remote code execution

The vulnerability was used in the wild against PyBitmessage v0.6.2 users. According to vendor's notice, Bitmessage developer Peter ┼аurda's Bitmessage addresses were compromised as well by the attackers.

Vulnerability details

Advisory: SB2018021404 - Remote code execution in PyBitmessage

Vulnerable component: PyBitmessage

CVE-ID:

CVSSv3 score: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:H/RL:O/RC:C

CWE-ID: CWE-20 - Improper input validation

Description:

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the target system.

The weakness exists due to a message encoding bug. A remote attacker can send a specially crafted message, run an automated script looking in ~/.electrum/wallets, open a remote reverse shell, gain access to other files and execute arbitrary code.

Successful exploitation of the vulnerability results in system compromise.

Note: the vulnerability has been actively exploited to create a remote shell and steal bitcoins from Electrum wallets.

External links:

https://bitmessage.org/wiki/Main_Page
https://www.securityweek.com/zero-day-attack-prompts-emergency-patch-bitmessage-client

About zero-day vulnerabilities

Zero-day vulnerability is an undisclosed vulnerability in software that hackers can exploit to compromise computer programs, gain unauthorized access to sensitive data, penetrate networks, etc. We consider vulnerability a zero-day when there is no solution provided from software vendor and the vulnerability is being actively exploited by malicious actors.

Zero-day candidate is a potential zero-day vulnerability in software which might have been used in targeted attacks, however there is no evidence to support this suggestion.