CVE-2002-2206 in Norton Antivirus
Summary
by MITRE
The POP3 proxy service (POPROXY.EXE) in Norton AntiVirus 2001 allows local users to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption and crash) via a long username with multiple /localhost entries.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/12/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2002-2206 resides within the POP3 proxy service component of Norton AntiVirus 2001, specifically in the PROXY.EXE executable module. This flaw represents a classic denial of service condition that exploits improper input validation within the email proxy functionality. The vulnerability manifests when local users craft malicious username strings containing multiple /localhost entries, which the service fails to properly handle during processing. The POP3 proxy service operates as an intermediary between client email applications and mail servers, facilitating email retrieval through the antivirus protection framework. This particular implementation lacks adequate bounds checking and input sanitization mechanisms, creating a pathway for resource exhaustion attacks that can overwhelm the system's processing capabilities.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability leverages the service's insufficient validation of username parameters during authentication attempts. When the PROPOXY.EXE process encounters a username string with multiple /localhost entries, it fails to properly parse or limit the input length, causing the service to consume excessive CPU cycles in attempting to process the malformed input. This malformed input triggers an infinite loop or excessive recursive processing within the proxy service's internal parsing routines, leading to complete system resource exhaustion and subsequent service crashes. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and specifically targets the authentication phase of the POP3 protocol implementation, making it particularly dangerous as it can disrupt email services that depend on this proxy functionality. This flaw aligns with CWE-129 Input Validation and CWE-400 Uncontrolled Resource Consumption, representing both improper input handling and resource management issues within the software's architecture.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise the availability of email services within environments relying on Norton AntiVirus 2001's proxy functionality. Local users with minimal privileges can exploit this weakness to cause sustained system instability, potentially affecting legitimate email operations and user productivity. The vulnerability's local privilege requirement reduces the attack surface compared to remote exploits, but it still represents a significant security concern for organizations where local access is not adequately restricted. In enterprise environments, this could enable insider threats or compromised local accounts to disrupt critical email infrastructure, particularly in scenarios where email availability is crucial for business operations. The service crash and CPU consumption patterns align with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for Denial of Service and T1078.002 for Valid Accounts, as it exploits legitimate local user accounts to cause system instability.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2002-2206 should focus on immediate patch deployment as provided by Symantec, which would address the input validation deficiencies in the PROPOXY.EXE module. Organizations should implement proper input sanitization measures at the application level to prevent excessive or malformed input from reaching the vulnerable parsing routines. Network segmentation and privilege restriction practices should be enforced to limit local access to systems running the affected antivirus software. Additionally, monitoring systems should be configured to detect unusual CPU consumption patterns or service crashes that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper input validation and resource management in security applications, as proxy services must be designed to handle malformed inputs gracefully without consuming excessive system resources. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify similar input validation issues in other components of the antivirus suite or related services that may be vulnerable to similar exploitation techniques.