A serious security flaw in BitTorrent Sync can be exploited by a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code, according to an advisory published over the weekend by HP’s Zero Day Initiative (ZDI).
BitTorrent Sync is a peer-to-peer file synchronization application developed by San Francisco-based Internet technology company BitTorrent, Inc. Available for all the major mobile and desktop platforms, the tool allows users to sync files between local or remote devices. In August 2014, BitTorrent reported that the app had more than 10 million user installs, with a total of over 80 petabytes of data transferred.
Andrea Micalizzi, also known as “rgod,” has identified a btsync protocol command injection vulnerability (CVE-2015-2846) that can be exploited for remote code execution. The researcher reported his findings to BitTorrent in early November 2014 through ZDI.
“The vulnerability relates to how BitTorrent Sync handles URLs with the btsync protocol. By navigating the user to a specially formed link starting with btsync:, an attacker can inject arbitrary command line parameters that will be passed to BTSync.exe. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code under the context of the current user,” ZDI wrote in its advisory.
The severity of the vulnerability has been rated as “high,” with a CVSS score of 7.5. However, arbitrary code can be executed on vulnerable systems only if the attacker can trick the victim into visiting a malicious page or opening a specially crafted file.
BitTorrent told SecurityWeek that security is a top priority for the company and that the vulnerability was addressed shortly after it was reported in November.
Micalizzi has identified security holes in numerous products over the past period, including ones from HP, Novell, IBM, Oracle, Samsung, Rockwell Automation, and Dell. He has also reported vulnerabilities in various Schneider Electric products, such as Pelco video management software, and ProClima thermal management software.
*Updated with information from BitTorrent