Fortinet Discovers IBM SPSS Statistics ActiveX Control Arbitrary Code Execution Vulnerability

Summary

Fortinet's FortiGuard Labs has discovered an arbitrary code execution vulnerability in IBM SPSS Statistics ActiveX control.
IBM SPSS Statistics is an integrated family of products that addresses the entire analytical process, from planning to data collection to analysis, reporting and deployment. SPSS Statistics is loaded with powerful analytic techniques and time-saving features to help you quickly and easily find new insights in your data, so you can make more accurate predictions and achieve better outcomes for your organization.
The vulnerability exists due to insufficient sanitizing of the parameter value passed to the function 'LongAsObject'. This could allow an attacker to pass malicious parameter value to the ActiveX control, resulting in arbitrary code execution on the victim's system.

Solutions

FortiGuard Labs released the following FortiGate IPS signature which covers this specific vulnerability:

IBM.SPSS.Statistics.ActiveX.Arbitrary.Code.Execution
Released Apr 29, 2015
Users should apply the solution provided by IBM.

Additional Information

Since the ActiveX control is not marked as "safe for scripting", the vulnerability should be difficult to be exploited remotely.

Acknowledgement

This vulnerability was discovered by Honggang Ren of Fortinet's FortiGuard Labs.

IPS Subscription

Fortinet customers who subscribe to Fortinet's intrusion prevention (IPS) service should be protected against this vulnerability with the appropriate configuration parameters in place. Fortinet's IPS service is one component of FortiGuard Subscription Services, which also offer comprehensive solutions such as antivirus, Web content filtering and antispam capabilities. These services enable protection against threats on both application and network layers. FortiGuard Services are continuously updated by FortiGuard Labs, which enables Fortinet to deliver a combination of multi-layered security intelligence and true zero-day protection from new and emerging threats. These updates are delivered to all FortiGate, FortiMail and FortiClient products. Fortinet strictly follows responsible disclosure guidelines to ensure optimum protection during a threat's lifecycle.