Software Engineering Institute

EMC Retrospect Backup and Recovery Software

EMC Retrospect is a is a backup and recovery application designed for small to medium sized networks. In a typical Retrospect setup, the EMC Retrospect Client software is installed on all of the computers that require backups. The clients are then configured to listen on port 497/tcp for commands from the EMC Retrospect Server. Note that the EMC Backup runs with SYSTEM privileges on Windows systems and root privileges on UNIX-based systems.

The Problem

There is a buffer overflow in the EMC Retrospect Client. The overflow can be triggered by sending a specially crafted packet to a system running a vulnerable version of the EMC Retrospect Client software.

Please refer to the EMC Retrospect Knowledgebase Article# 9511 for information on affected versions of the EMC Retrospect Client software.

If a remote attacker sends a specially crafted packet to an EMC Retrospect Client installation, that attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.

Upgrade
Upgrade to a patched version of the EMC Retrospect Client. A list of fixed EMC Retrospect Clients is available in EMC Retrospect Knowledgebase Article# 9511.

In addition, the following workaround may mitigate this vulnerability.

Restrict access

You may wish to block access to the vulnerable software from outside your network perimeter, specifically by blocking access to the port used by EMC Retrospect Client (497/tcp). This will limit your exposure to attacks. However, blocking at the network perimeter would still allow attackers within the perimeter of your network to exploit the vulnerability. The use of host-based firewalls in addition to network-based firewalls can help restrict access to specific hosts within the network. It is important to understand your network's configuration and service requirements before deciding what changes are appropriate.