CVE-2012-1457 in Trend Micro
Summary
by MITRE
The TAR file parser in Avira AntiVir 7.11.1.163, Antiy Labs AVL SDK 2.0.3.7, avast! Antivirus 4.8.1351.0 and 5.0.677.0, AVG Anti-Virus 10.0.0.1190, Bitdefender 7.2, Quick Heal (aka Cat QuickHeal) 11.00, ClamAV 0.96.4, Command Antivirus 5.2.11.5, Emsisoft Anti-Malware 5.1.0.1, eSafe 7.0.17.0, F-Prot Antivirus 4.6.2.117, G Data AntiVirus 21, Ikarus Virus Utilities T3 Command Line Scanner 1.1.97.0, Jiangmin Antivirus 13.0.900, K7 AntiVirus 9.77.3565, Kaspersky Anti-Virus 7.0.0.125, McAfee Anti-Virus Scanning Engine 5.400.0.1158, McAfee Gateway (formerly Webwasher) 2010.1C, Antimalware Engine 1.1.6402.0 in Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0, NOD32 Antivirus 5795, Norman Antivirus 6.06.12, PC Tools AntiVirus 7.0.3.5, Rising Antivirus 22.83.00.03, AVEngine 20101.3.0.103 in Symantec Endpoint Protection 11, Trend Micro AntiVirus 9.120.0.1004, Trend Micro HouseCall 9.120.0.1004, VBA32 3.12.14.2, and VirusBuster 13.6.151.0 allows remote attackers to bypass malware detection via a TAR archive entry with a length field that exceeds the total TAR file size. NOTE: this may later be SPLIT into multiple CVEs if additional information is published showing that the error occurred independently in different TAR parser implementations.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/04/2022
This vulnerability represents a critical flaw in the TAR file parsing functionality across numerous antivirus solutions, specifically targeting the handling of archive entry length fields within TAR archives. The issue manifests when a TAR archive contains an entry where the length field exceeds the total size of the TAR file itself, creating a scenario where the parser fails to properly validate the integrity of the archive structure. This fundamental parsing error allows malicious actors to craft specially designed TAR files that can bypass detection mechanisms, effectively enabling the execution of malicious code while remaining undetected by the affected security solutions. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and boundary checking within the TAR parsing libraries used by these antivirus products, creating a window of opportunity for attackers to exploit the inconsistent behavior across different security implementations.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-129, which addresses insufficient validation of length fields in input processing, and CWE-674, which covers uncontrolled recursion in input processing. From an operational perspective, this flaw demonstrates a significant weakness in the defensive mechanisms of antivirus software, as it allows attackers to manipulate the parsing behavior through carefully crafted archive structures. The vulnerability affects a wide range of security products from different vendors, indicating a common underlying implementation pattern that makes this issue particularly concerning. The fact that multiple vendors share the same parsing library or implementation approach means that the exploitation potential is amplified, as a single attack vector can potentially bypass multiple security layers simultaneously.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple detection bypass, as it represents a fundamental flaw in how these security solutions process archive files. Attackers can exploit this weakness by creating malicious TAR archives that appear legitimate to the parser but contain hidden malicious payloads. The vulnerability operates at the core parsing layer of the antivirus solutions, making it particularly dangerous because it can be leveraged to circumvent multiple security controls that rely on proper archive processing. This type of vulnerability is particularly concerning from an ATT&CK framework perspective as it maps to techniques involving evasion and privilege escalation through manipulation of legitimate system processes. The affected products span across different security vendors and platforms, suggesting that this vulnerability may be rooted in common parsing libraries or shared code bases, which increases the potential attack surface.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on immediate patching of affected antivirus solutions, as well as implementing additional validation layers for archive processing within security infrastructure. Organizations should consider implementing network-level controls to monitor and restrict the processing of suspicious archive files, particularly those that may exhibit anomalous length field behavior. The vulnerability highlights the importance of robust input validation and boundary checking in security software, particularly for archive and file processing components. Security teams should also consider implementing signature-based detection for known patterns of malicious TAR files that exploit this vulnerability, while simultaneously monitoring for any indicators of compromise that may result from successful exploitation attempts. Given the wide range of affected products, organizations should prioritize updating all security solutions to their latest versions and verify that proper archive validation is in place across their entire security infrastructure.