CVE-2006-4855 in Norton Personal Firewall
Summary
by MITRE
The \Device\SymEvent driver in Symantec Norton Personal Firewall 2006 9.1.0.33, and other versions of Norton Personal Firewall, Internet Security, AntiVirus, SystemWorks, Symantec Client Security SCS 1.x, 2.x, 3.0, and 3.1, Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition SAVCE 8.x, 9.x, 10.0, and 10.1, Symantec pcAnywhere 11.5 only, and Symantec Host, allows local users to cause a denial of service (system crash) via invalid data, as demonstrated by calling DeviceIoControl to send the data.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/07/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-4855 represents a critical denial of service flaw within Symantec's security portfolio affecting multiple products including Norton Personal Firewall, Symantec Client Security, and various other security solutions. This issue stems from improper input validation within the \Device\SymEvent driver component, which processes device control requests through the DeviceIoControl API. The flaw manifests when local users submit malformed or invalid data to the driver, causing system instability and potential crashes that can be exploited to disrupt normal system operations.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability resides in the kernel-mode driver's handling of IOCTL (Input/Output Control) requests without adequate validation of input parameters. When DeviceIoControl is invoked with malformed data, the SymEvent driver fails to properly sanitize or validate the incoming parameters before processing them, leading to memory corruption or execution flow disruption. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-121, which addresses stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-125, which covers out-of-bounds read errors. The attack vector specifically exploits the lack of proper bounds checking in kernel-level code, where invalid data can cause the operating system to execute unintended code paths or corrupt critical system structures.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple system crashes, as it can be leveraged to create persistent denial of service conditions that affect enterprise environments where these security products are deployed. Local attackers with minimal privileges can exploit this weakness to destabilize systems running affected Symantec products, potentially causing service interruptions that impact business operations. The vulnerability is particularly concerning in enterprise settings where multiple systems may be running the same vulnerable software versions, creating opportunities for cascading failures that could affect network availability and security monitoring capabilities.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including patching affected systems with the latest Symantec security updates, which typically address the input validation issues by implementing proper parameter checking and data sanitization routines. Network segmentation and privilege restriction measures can also reduce the attack surface by limiting local user access to potentially vulnerable systems. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under T1499, which covers virtualization and container abuse, as local privilege escalation techniques could be employed to exploit the denial of service condition. Additionally, system monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual DeviceIoControl activity patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, and regular security assessments should verify that all Symantec products are running patched versions to prevent this vulnerability from being exploited in targeted attacks.