CVE-2004-0830 in F-Secure
Summary
by MITRE
The Content Scanner Server in F-Secure Anti-Virus for Microsoft Exchange 6.21 and earlier, F-Secure Anti-Virus for Microsoft Exchange 6.01 and earlier, and F-Secure Internet Gatekeeper 6.32 and earlier allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (service crash due to unhandled exception) via a certain malformed packet.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/29/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2004-0830 represents a critical denial of service weakness in F-Secure's email security products, specifically affecting Content Scanner Server components within their Anti-Virus for Microsoft Exchange and Internet Gatekeeper solutions. This flaw manifests when the affected systems encounter malformed network packets that trigger unhandled exceptions in the scanning processes, leading to complete service disruption and system instability. The vulnerability impacts multiple product versions including F-Secure Anti-Virus for Microsoft Exchange 6.21 and earlier, 6.01 and earlier, along with F-Secure Internet Gatekeeper 6.32 and earlier, indicating a widespread issue affecting core email security infrastructure. The attack vector is particularly concerning as it allows remote exploitation without requiring authentication, making it accessible to any attacker with network access to the vulnerable systems.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the Content Scanner Server's packet processing routines. When the system receives malformed packets that do not conform to expected network protocols or data structures, the parsing logic fails to properly handle these exceptional conditions. This results in the system throwing unhandled exceptions that cause the Content Scanner Server process to terminate abruptly, leading to a complete service crash. The flaw operates at the protocol level where the system fails to implement proper exception handling mechanisms for malformed data inputs, creating a direct path to system instability. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-400, which categorizes "Uncontrolled Resource Consumption" as a weakness where systems fail to properly handle exceptional conditions, and specifically relates to CWE-248, "Uncaught Exception," which describes the failure to catch and handle exceptions that occur during program execution.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise email security operations and business continuity. Organizations relying on F-Secure's Content Scanner Server for email filtering and malware detection face significant risks when this vulnerability is exploited, as it can lead to complete email service outages and create windows of vulnerability where malicious content can bypass security controls. The remote nature of the attack means that threat actors can exploit this weakness from anywhere on the network, potentially targeting multiple systems simultaneously. This vulnerability particularly affects enterprise email environments where continuous availability is critical for business operations, and the lack of authentication requirements makes it an attractive target for automated attacks. The impact is further exacerbated by the fact that this vulnerability can be exploited without requiring any special privileges or credentials, making it accessible to both sophisticated and casual attackers.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2004-0830 should focus on immediate patching of affected F-Secure products, as the vendor would have released security updates addressing the unhandled exception handling issues. Organizations should implement network segmentation to limit exposure of vulnerable systems to untrusted networks and consider deploying intrusion detection systems to monitor for exploitation attempts. The implementation of proper input validation and exception handling within the email security infrastructure should be prioritized, ensuring that malformed packets are either properly handled or rejected before they can trigger system crashes. Network monitoring should include detection of unusual traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, and system administrators should implement automated alerting for service crashes or restarts that could indicate successful exploitation. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1499.004, "Endpoint Denial of Service," and represents a classic example of how improper exception handling can be exploited to achieve system disruption, with the attack leveraging the system's failure to properly validate and handle unexpected input data streams.