Wachovia Bank website sends confidential information
(social security numbers, phone number, address, etc.)
over the Internet without encryption.

Horizon Network Security Security Advisory 07/10/2007
https://VerySecureLinux.com/
Jul 10, 2007

I. BACKGROUND

Wachovia Bank's official web site offers the following URL to allow
its customers to change their privacy preferences:

     https://www.wachovia.com/privacy

Wachovia also notified its customers by U.S. Mail that they can use that
same URL besides.

That URL has a link to the following to actually change one's
preferences:

     https://www.wachovia.com/personal/forms/privacy_optout

Unfortunately, that page appears to be an ordinary HTML form whose
"filled out data" then is transmitted via the "post" method to an http
(not https) URL.

III. ANALYSIS

We inspected the page's source via our Opera browser.  (We did not
sniff the web traffic so we are not absolutely sure that there is not
some hidden encryption method, though there appears to be none.)

IV. DETECTION

It is trivial to inspect the page source or sniff the data to
demonstrate the problem.  The problem has not been corrected.

V. WORKAROUND

Use a method other than their web site to exercise one's preferences.

VI. VENDOR RESPONSE

The vendor (Wachovia Bank) was notified via their customer service
phone number on June 25.  We were transferred to "web support".  The
person answering asked us to FAX the details to her and we did so,
also on June 25.  We explained that we were reporting a severe
security problem on their web site.

We stated that that if we did not hear back from them within 7 days and
the problem was not fixed by then that we would post the problem on the
Full Disclosure list, following accepted industry practice.

To date we have received no response and the problem remains unfixed.

VII. CVE INFORMATION

There is no CVE number.

VIII. DISCLOSURE TIMELINE

06/25/2007  Initial vendor notification
06/25/2007  Vendor requested FAXed details
06/25/2007  Details FAXed to vendor

07/20/2007  No vendor response
07/20/2007  Public disclosure on this Full Disclosure list

IX. CREDIT

This problem was discovered by Bob Toxen, one of our engineers.

X. LEGAL NOTICES

Copyright © 2007 Horizon Network Security.  All rights reserved.

Permission is granted for the redistribution of this alert electronically.
It may not be edited without the express written consent of Horizon
Network Security.  If you wish to reprint the whole or any part of this
alert in any other medium other than electronically, please e-mail
btoxen@VerySecureLinux.com for permission.

Disclaimer: The information in the advisory is believed to be accurate at
the time of publishing, based on currently available information.  Use of
the information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition and
waiving of the right to any action against Horizon Network Security or
its employees or contractors.

There are no warranties with regard to this information.  Neither the
author nor the publisher accepts any liability for any direct, indirect,
or consequential loss or damage arising from use of, or reliance on,
this information.

We believe Wachovia Bank is obligated by California's security breach
disclosure laws to notify its California customers who may have used
this form and the State of California.  Other jurisdictions also may
have notification requirements.

Bob Toxen,
Horizon Network Security
https://www.verysecurelinux.com       [Network & Linux/Unix Security Consulting]
https://www.realworldlinuxsecurity.com [Our 5* book: "Real World Linux Security"]