CVE-2016-4304 in Kaspersky
Summary
by MITRE
A denial of service vulnerability exists in the syscall filtering functionality of the Kaspersky Internet Security KLIF driver. A specially crafted native api call request can cause a access violation exception in KLIF kernel driver resulting in local denial of service. An attacker can run program from user-mode to trigger this vulnerability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/20/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-4304 represents a critical denial of service flaw within the kernel-level driver component of Kaspersky Internet Security known as KLIF driver. This issue stems from inadequate validation mechanisms in the system call filtering functionality that governs how the security software processes native API calls from user-mode applications. The flaw specifically manifests when the KLIF driver receives a malformed or specially crafted native API call request that it cannot properly handle, leading to an access violation exception that terminates the driver's operation.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability resides in the kernel-mode driver's handling of system call requests without proper bounds checking or input validation. When a malicious user-mode process submits a crafted native API call, the KLIF driver's filtering mechanism fails to adequately sanitize the incoming request, causing an unhandled access violation that results in the driver crashing and subsequently rendering the security functionality unavailable. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, though in this case the issue manifests as an access violation rather than a traditional buffer overflow. The vulnerability operates at the kernel level where the driver maintains elevated privileges, making the impact more severe than typical user-mode vulnerabilities.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption as it creates a persistent local denial of service condition that can be reliably triggered by any user-mode process. An attacker with local access can exploit this weakness to repeatedly crash the KLIF driver, effectively disabling Kaspersky Internet Security's real-time protection capabilities for the duration of the attack. This creates a window of opportunity for additional malicious activities, as the security software becomes temporarily ineffective. The vulnerability directly maps to ATT&CK technique T1489, which involves denying system services by disabling or destroying system defenses, and T1059, which covers command and scripting interpreter usage to execute malicious code that triggers the vulnerability.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-4304 should focus on both immediate remediation and long-term architectural improvements. The most effective immediate solution involves applying the vendor-provided security patch that addresses the input validation deficiencies in the KLIF driver's syscall filtering logic. Organizations should also implement process monitoring to detect unusual patterns of driver crashes or restarts that might indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, system administrators should consider implementing runtime application control policies that limit the execution of potentially malicious native API calls, though this approach requires careful configuration to avoid disrupting legitimate security software functionality. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper kernel-mode input validation and the need for comprehensive testing of security software components against malformed inputs to prevent similar issues in other security products.