CVE-2004-2405 in F-Secure
Summary
by MITRE
Buffer overflow in multiple F-Secure Anti-Virus products, including F-Secure Anti-Virus 5.42 and earlier, allows remote attackers to bypass scanning or cause a denial of service (crash or module restart), depending on the product, via a malformed LHA archive.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/08/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2004-2405 represents a critical buffer overflow flaw affecting multiple versions of F-Secure Anti-Virus software, specifically impacting versions 5.42 and earlier. This security weakness stems from inadequate input validation within the LHA archive processing functionality of these antivirus solutions. The flaw manifests when the software encounters malformed LHA archives during routine scanning operations, creating a condition where attacker-controlled data can overwrite adjacent memory locations beyond the allocated buffer boundaries. This vulnerability resides in the core decompression and analysis modules responsible for handling compressed archive files, making it particularly dangerous as it can be triggered through normal antivirus operation when processing potentially malicious archive files.
The technical implementation of this buffer overflow occurs within the LHA decompression routines that fail to properly validate the size and structure of archive headers before attempting to read and process their contents. When an attacker crafts a specially formatted LHA archive with oversized or malformed headers, the software's memory management routines become overwhelmed, leading to unauthorized memory corruption. The vulnerability's impact varies depending on the specific F-Secure product variant, with some implementations allowing remote code execution while others result in denial of service conditions that cause the antivirus module to crash or restart. This dual nature of the vulnerability makes it particularly concerning as it can be leveraged for both system disruption and potential privilege escalation depending on the execution context.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risks for organizations relying on F-Secure Anti-Virus solutions, as it can be exploited remotely without requiring local system access or user interaction. The attack vector through malformed LHA archives means that simply encountering such files during routine scanning operations can trigger the exploit, potentially allowing attackers to bypass security controls or cause system instability. The vulnerability's presence in widely deployed antivirus software creates a substantial risk surface, as organizations may unknowingly expose themselves to attacks that could lead to complete system compromise or service disruption. Network administrators and security teams face the challenge of protecting against this vulnerability while maintaining operational continuity, particularly in environments where automated scanning of unknown files is routine.
Organizations should prioritize immediate remediation through official security patches provided by F-Secure, as these updates typically include proper input validation and memory boundary checks to prevent the buffer overflow condition. System administrators should implement network segmentation and monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts, while also considering temporary disabling of LHA archive scanning capabilities until patches are deployed. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which addresses stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and may also relate to CWE-122 for heap-based buffer overflows, though the specific implementation details would determine the exact classification. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability could be categorized under T1059 for command and scripting interpreter execution, and potentially T1489 for denial of service, as attackers might use the vulnerability to compromise system availability or execute unauthorized commands. Additionally, the vulnerability's ability to bypass scanning mechanisms aligns with T1566 for initial access through malicious file delivery, making it a particularly dangerous weakness in endpoint security solutions.