CVE-2014-7247 in Ichitaro
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in JustSystems Ichitaro 2008 through 2011; Ichitaro Government 6, 7, 2008, 2009, and 2010; Ichitaro Pro; Ichitaro Pro 2; Ichitaro 2011 Sou; Ichitaro 2012 Shou; Ichitaro 2013 Gen; and Ichitaro 2014 Tetsu allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted file.
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/10/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-7247 represents a critical remote code execution flaw affecting multiple versions of JustSystems Ichitaro office suite applications spanning from version 2008 through 2014. This unspecified vulnerability exists within the document processing functionality of these applications, which are widely used in Japanese business environments for creating and editing office documents. The affected products include various iterations of Ichitaro 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014, along with specialized versions such as Ichitaro Government and Ichitaro Pro series, making this a broad impact vulnerability across the product line.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and memory corruption issues within the document parsing mechanisms of these applications. When processing specially crafted malicious files, the applications fail to properly validate file structures and content, leading to buffer overflows or other memory manipulation conditions that can be exploited by remote attackers. This flaw allows an attacker to inject and execute arbitrary code on the target system with the privileges of the user running the vulnerable application. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates at the document parsing level, meaning that simply opening a maliciously crafted document can trigger the exploit without requiring user interaction beyond the initial document opening.
From an operational perspective, the impact of this vulnerability extends beyond individual system compromise to potentially affect entire organizational networks. Since Ichitaro is commonly used in Japanese corporate environments for document management, a successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive business documents, data exfiltration, and potential lateral movement within the network. The remote nature of the attack means that threat actors can exploit this vulnerability without requiring physical access to the target systems, making it particularly dangerous for organizations that rely on email-based document sharing or document collaboration workflows. The vulnerability also presents challenges for incident response teams as it may be difficult to distinguish between legitimate document processing errors and malicious exploitation attempts.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigation strategies including applying available vendor patches and updates to all affected Ichitaro versions, implementing strict document filtering and validation policies, and conducting network monitoring for suspicious file access patterns. Security teams should also consider implementing application whitelisting controls to restrict execution of untrusted document files and establish secure document handling procedures. The vulnerability aligns with common attack patterns documented in the attack tree model where initial access is achieved through document-based attacks, potentially leading to privilege escalation and persistent access. This type of vulnerability is categorized under CWE-119 in the Common Weakness Enumeration system, which deals with weak buffer access protections and improper handling of memory operations. Organizations should also consider implementing email security controls to prevent the delivery of malicious documents and establish incident response procedures specifically addressing document-based exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and proper input validation in office productivity software, as these applications often handle untrusted content from external sources and require robust protection against memory corruption exploits.