CVE-2009-3587 in Anti-Virus for the Enterprise
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in the arclib component in the Anti-Virus engine in CA Anti-Virus for the Enterprise (formerly eTrust Antivirus) 7.1 through r8.1; Anti-Virus 2007 (v8) through 2009; eTrust EZ Antivirus r7.1; Internet Security Suite 2007 (v3) through Plus 2009; and other CA products allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service and possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted RAR archive file that triggers heap corruption, a different vulnerability than CVE-2009-3588.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/29/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2009-3587 represents a critical heap corruption flaw within the arclib component of CA's Anti-Virus engine, affecting multiple enterprise security products including CA Anti-Virus for the Enterprise versions 7.1 through r8.1 and various other CA security solutions. This vulnerability exists in the processing logic of RAR archive files, where the maliciously crafted archive triggers memory corruption during decompression operations. The flaw demonstrates characteristics consistent with heap-based buffer overflow conditions that can lead to unpredictable system behavior and potential privilege escalation.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and memory management within the arclib library responsible for handling archive file decompression. When a specially crafted RAR file is processed by the affected antivirus software, the decompression routine fails to properly validate the archive structure, leading to heap corruption that can be exploited to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the antivirus service. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-122, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and represents a classic example of how archive processing libraries can become attack vectors when insufficient bounds checking is implemented.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for enterprise environments where antivirus solutions are deployed across multiple systems. Attackers can leverage this weakness to remotely compromise systems by simply delivering a malicious RAR file that triggers the vulnerable code path during routine antivirus scanning operations. The denial of service aspect of this vulnerability can disrupt normal security operations, while the potential code execution capability allows for complete system compromise, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise contexts where antivirus engines run with elevated privileges. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond individual system compromise to potentially affect entire network infrastructures through lateral movement and privilege escalation.
Security practitioners should implement immediate mitigations including disabling automatic scanning of RAR files in affected CA products, applying vendor patches as soon as they become available, and monitoring for suspicious file delivery patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's classification under the ATT&CK framework would fall under T1059.007 for command and scripting interpreter, with potential lateral movement capabilities through T1021.002 for remote services. Organizations should also consider network segmentation and file reputation services to prevent automatic execution of potentially malicious archive files. The remediation process requires careful testing of patches to ensure compatibility with existing security policies and system configurations while maintaining effective protection against other threats.