CVE-2008-1412 in Internet Security
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in multiple F-Secure anti-virus products, including Internet Security 2006 through 2008, Anti-Virus 2006 through 2008, and others, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (hang or crash) via a malformed archive that triggers an unhandled exception, as demonstrated by the PROTOS GENOME test suite for Archive Formats.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/07/2019
The vulnerability described in CVE-2008-1412 represents a critical security flaw affecting multiple versions of F-Secure anti-virus software spanning from 2006 through 2008. This issue manifests within the archive handling functionality of these security products, where the software fails to properly validate or process malformed archive files. The vulnerability operates at the core of file decompression and parsing mechanisms, specifically targeting the archive format processing components that are essential for identifying and neutralizing malicious files. When these systems encounter specially crafted archive files that contain malformed structures, the parsing routines trigger unhandled exceptions that lead to system instability. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it affects the foundational security capabilities of the anti-virus products, potentially allowing attackers to compromise the very systems designed to protect against threats.
The technical execution of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of archive file formats that are commonly used in malware distribution. Attackers can craft archive files that contain malformed data structures, such as corrupted headers, invalid compression sequences, or improperly formatted metadata that the vulnerable F-Secure products cannot handle gracefully. The PROTOS GENOME test suite for Archive Formats serves as a demonstration of how these malformed archives can be constructed to exploit the underlying parsing code. When the anti-virus software attempts to scan or decompress these malicious archives, the unhandled exception causes the application to crash or hang, effectively rendering the security product ineffective during the attack. This behavior aligns with CWE-248, which addresses "Uncaught Exception" conditions in software applications, where programs fail to handle exceptional conditions that occur during execution.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service scenarios, as it can potentially enable remote code execution in certain configurations. When the anti-virus software crashes or hangs during archive processing, attackers can exploit this behavior to either cause persistent service disruption or potentially leverage the instability to execute arbitrary code within the security application's context. This creates a dangerous scenario where the defensive tools become attack vectors themselves, as the compromised anti-virus software may no longer be capable of protecting the system from other threats. The vulnerability affects a wide range of F-Secure products, including both Internet Security and Anti-Virus suites, making it particularly impactful across different security deployment scenarios. The attack surface is broad since archive processing is a fundamental function of anti-virus software, and these systems are often deployed in environments where they process files from untrusted sources.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected F-Secure products to address the unhandled exception handling issue in archive processing routines. Organizations should implement network segmentation and file filtering mechanisms to prevent the processing of suspicious archive files until patches are deployed. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this type of vulnerability under T1059.007 for "Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell" and T1203 for "Exploitation for Client Execution" when considering how attackers might leverage such flaws to execute malicious code. Security teams should also implement monitoring for unusual application crashes or hangs in anti-virus processes, as these could indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments of their security infrastructure to identify any other components that might be similarly vulnerable to unhandled exception conditions. The remediation process must include comprehensive testing of patched versions to ensure that the fix does not introduce new compatibility issues with legitimate archive files while maintaining the security product's ability to detect and neutralize actual threats.