CVE-2012-1431 in F-Prot
Summary
by MITRE
The ELF file parser in Bitdefender 7.2, Command Antivirus 5.2.11.5, Comodo Antivirus 7424, eSafe 7.0.17.0, F-Prot Antivirus 4.6.2.117, F-Secure Anti-Virus 9.0.16160.0, McAfee Gateway (formerly Webwasher) 2010.1C, nProtect Anti-Virus 2011-01-17.01, Sophos Anti-Virus 4.61.0, and Rising Antivirus 22.83.00.03 allows remote attackers to bypass malware detection via an ELF file with a \4a\46\49\46 character sequence at a certain location. NOTE: this may later be SPLIT into multiple CVEs if additional information is published showing that the error occurred independently in different ELF parser implementations.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/26/2018
The vulnerability described in CVE-2012-1431 represents a critical flaw in multiple antivirus solutions' ELF (Executable and Linkable Format) file parsing capabilities. This issue affects a wide range of security products including Bitdefender, Command Antivirus, Comodo Antivirus, eSafe, F-Prot, F-Secure, McAfee Gateway, nProtect, Sophos, and Rising Antivirus. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of ELF file structures during malware detection processes, specifically when encountering a particular character sequence that can be exploited to evade security measures.
The technical flaw manifests when an ELF file contains the character sequence \4a\46\49\46 at a specific location within the file structure. This sequence corresponds to the ASCII characters 'JFIF' which are typically associated with JPEG image files. The vulnerability occurs because the affected antivirus parsers fail to properly validate or recognize this sequence in the context of ELF files, leading to incorrect interpretation of the file structure. This misinterpretation causes the security software to either ignore critical malware indicators or incorrectly classify malicious content as benign, effectively allowing malware to bypass detection mechanisms.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates significant security risks for organizations relying on these antivirus solutions. Attackers can craft malicious ELF files that contain the specific character sequence to evade detection, potentially leading to successful malware infections, data breaches, and system compromises. The vulnerability affects enterprise-level security infrastructure, particularly in environments where these antivirus products are deployed, as it undermines the fundamental purpose of malware detection capabilities. The impact extends beyond individual systems to potentially compromise entire network infrastructures, especially in scenarios where these products are used as part of broader security architectures.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-129, which addresses improper validation of input boundaries, and represents a classic case of insufficient input validation in security software. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving evasion and defense evasion, specifically T1055 for process injection and T1566 for social engineering, as attackers can leverage this weakness to bypass security controls. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including updating all affected antivirus solutions to patched versions, implementing additional file validation layers, and monitoring for suspicious ELF file activity. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of proper input sanitization in security software, emphasizing the need for comprehensive testing of edge cases and unusual file structures to prevent similar issues in future implementations.
This vulnerability demonstrates the complexity of modern security software and the challenges of maintaining robust detection capabilities across diverse file formats. The fact that multiple vendors were affected suggests a common implementation pattern or shared codebase that propagated this specific parsing weakness. Security teams should consider implementing layered detection approaches that do not rely solely on signature-based or heuristic analysis, incorporating behavioral monitoring and additional validation mechanisms to compensate for potential parsing vulnerabilities in antivirus software.