CVE-2011-1050 in IDA
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in Hex-Rays IDA Pro 5.7 and 6.0 has unknown impact and attack vectors related to "converson of string encodings" and "inconsistencies in the handling of UTF8 sequences by the user interface."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/20/2015
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-1050 resides within Hex-Rays IDA Pro versions 5.7 and 6.0, representing a critical security flaw that affects the disassembly and debugging environment widely used by cybersecurity professionals and reverse engineers. This unspecified vulnerability specifically targets the string encoding conversion mechanisms and UTF-8 sequence handling within the user interface components of the software, creating potential attack surfaces that could be exploited by malicious actors. The issue stems from inadequate validation and processing of character encodings, particularly when dealing with internationalized text and multibyte character sets that are common in modern software applications. Such vulnerabilities in reverse engineering tools pose significant risks because they can be leveraged to manipulate the analysis environment or potentially execute arbitrary code during the analysis process.
The technical nature of this vulnerability lies in the inconsistent handling of UTF-8 sequences within the graphical user interface of IDA Pro, where the application fails to properly validate or sanitize input when processing string encodings. This flaw manifests when the software encounters malformed or specially crafted UTF-8 sequences that are processed through the user interface components, potentially leading to memory corruption or unexpected behavior in the disassembly environment. The vulnerability's classification as unspecified in terms of impact and attack vectors suggests that the exact nature of the exploitation mechanism was not fully disclosed at the time of reporting, but the underlying issue involves improper buffer management and encoding conversion routines that could be manipulated by attackers. This type of vulnerability typically falls under CWE-129, which addresses improper validation of input, and may also relate to CWE-170, dealing with improper null termination of strings.
The operational impact of CVE-2011-1050 extends beyond simple data corruption, as it could enable attackers to compromise the integrity of reverse engineering workflows and potentially gain unauthorized access to sensitive analysis environments. Security researchers and analysts using IDA Pro for malware analysis, vulnerability research, or software security assessments could be at risk when processing files containing maliciously crafted encoding sequences. The vulnerability affects the core functionality of the application's user interface, meaning that any interaction with potentially malicious input could trigger the exploit conditions. Given that IDA Pro is frequently used in security research and penetration testing environments, the potential for exploitation in real-world scenarios remains significant, particularly when analysts encounter unknown malware samples or suspicious code constructs that contain malformed UTF-8 sequences.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper input validation and encoding sanitization within the application's string handling routines. Users should immediately upgrade to patched versions of IDA Pro, as the vendor would have addressed the encoding conversion issues through proper buffer management and UTF-8 sequence validation. Organizations utilizing IDA Pro in security operations should also implement additional security controls such as sandboxing analysis environments and network segmentation to limit potential exploitation. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper character encoding handling in security tools and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007, which covers the use of script-based languages, particularly when considering that many reverse engineering tasks involve script execution. Security teams should also consider implementing monitoring for unusual encoding patterns in files being analyzed and maintain updated threat intelligence regarding similar vulnerabilities in other disassembly and reverse engineering tools.