CVE-2012-1459 in Trend Micro
Summary
by MITRE
The TAR file parser in AhnLab V3 Internet Security 2011.01.18.00, 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, Comodo Antivirus 7424, Emsisoft Anti-Malware 5.1.0.1, F-Prot Antivirus 4.6.2.117, F-Secure Anti-Virus 9.0.16160.0, Fortinet Antivirus 4.2.254.0, 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, nProtect Anti-Virus 2011-01-17.01, Panda Antivirus 10.0.2.7, PC Tools AntiVirus 7.0.3.5, Rising Antivirus 22.83.00.03, Sophos Anti-Virus 4.61.0, 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 corresponding to that entire entry, plus part of the header of the next entry. 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
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-1459 represents a critical flaw in the TAR file parsing implementations across numerous antivirus and security solutions. This issue affects a wide range of security products including major vendors like Kaspersky, McAfee, Symantec, Trend Micro, and many others, creating a significant attack surface that could be exploited by threat actors to bypass security controls. The vulnerability specifically targets the TAR archive format parser component within these security applications, which is responsible for analyzing compressed archive files that are commonly used for distributing software and malware payloads.
The technical flaw manifests when the TAR parser encounters a malformed archive entry where the length field in the TAR header incorrectly specifies the size of the entire entry including part of the next entry's header data. This parsing error occurs due to insufficient boundary checking and validation mechanisms within the TAR file processing code. The vulnerability stems from a classic buffer over-read condition where the parser attempts to read beyond the intended data boundaries, potentially causing the security application to misinterpret file contents and skip malware detection. This type of vulnerability is categorized under CWE-129, which deals with insufficient validation of length fields, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for execution through archive files.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it allows remote attackers to craft malicious TAR archives that can bypass detection mechanisms in multiple security products simultaneously. Attackers can exploit this weakness by creating specially crafted TAR files where a single entry's length field extends beyond its actual data boundaries, effectively corrupting the parser's internal state. This manipulation can cause security applications to skip processing of subsequent entries, potentially allowing malware to be extracted and executed without detection. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it affects such a broad spectrum of security products, meaning that a single exploit could compromise multiple systems across different organizations. The attack vector is remote and requires no special privileges, making it highly accessible to threat actors.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2012-1459 should focus on immediate patching of affected security products, as vendors have released updates to address the TAR parsing vulnerability. Organizations should also implement additional security controls such as network-based file filtering, sandboxing of suspicious archive files, and enhanced monitoring for unusual file extraction patterns. Security teams should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all systems running affected security software and ensure proper patch management protocols are in place. The vulnerability highlights the importance of robust input validation and boundary checking in security applications, particularly for archive file parsers that are frequently targeted by attackers due to their complex parsing requirements and widespread use in both legitimate and malicious contexts. Regular security testing and code reviews focused on parsing functions should be implemented to prevent similar vulnerabilities from emerging in future security solutions.