CVE-2016-1224 in Worry-Free Business Security
Summary
by MITRE
CRLF injection vulnerability in Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security Service 5.x and Worry-Free Business Security 9.0 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary HTTP headers and conduct cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/30/2019
The CVE-2016-1224 vulnerability represents a critical CRLF injection flaw affecting Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security Service versions 5.x and Worry-Free Business Security 9.0. This vulnerability resides in the application's handling of user input within HTTP header processing, creating a pathway for remote attackers to manipulate the HTTP protocol stack. The issue stems from insufficient validation and sanitization of input data that flows into HTTP header construction, allowing malicious actors to inject carriage return line feed sequences that can alter the HTTP response structure.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability enables attackers to insert arbitrary HTTP headers into responses generated by the security service, fundamentally compromising the integrity of HTTP communications. When the application processes user-supplied input without proper sanitization, it creates opportunities for header injection attacks where attackers can manipulate response headers such as Set-Cookie, Location, or Content-Type fields. This manipulation can lead to session hijacking, redirect attacks, or more sophisticated exploitation techniques that leverage the injected headers to bypass security controls.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple header injection, as it provides attackers with a foundation for conducting cross-site scripting attacks through the manipulated HTTP responses. By injecting malicious headers that control how browsers interpret and render content, attackers can execute arbitrary JavaScript code within the context of legitimate user sessions. This capability represents a severe compromise of the web application's security model, as it allows attackers to establish persistent malicious presence within the security service's operational environment.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-113, which specifically addresses "Improper Neutralization of CRLF Sequences in HTTP Headers ('HTTP Response Splitting')", and demonstrates characteristics consistent with attack patterns found in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the 'Command and Control' and 'Initial Access' domains. The weakness creates opportunities for attackers to establish persistent access points and manipulate network communications, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise security contexts where the affected software serves as a protective barrier against external threats.
Organizations should prioritize immediate remediation through official patches provided by Trend Micro, as the vulnerability affects critical security infrastructure components. Additional mitigations include implementing strict input validation at all entry points, deploying web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious header injection attempts, and conducting comprehensive security assessments of the affected systems. Network monitoring should be enhanced to detect anomalous HTTP header patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts, while security teams should review and update their incident response procedures to address potential compromise scenarios arising from this vulnerability.