CVE-2016-4305 in Kaspersky
Summary
by MITRE
A denial of service vulnerability exists in the syscall filtering functionality of Kaspersky Internet Security KLIF driver. A specially crafted native api call can cause a access violation 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-2016-4305 represents a critical denial of service flaw within the kernel-mode component of Kaspersky Internet Security's KLIF driver. This issue resides in the system call filtering mechanism that is fundamental to the antivirus software's operation in protecting against malicious activities. The KLIF driver serves as a crucial interface between the user-mode security components and the kernel-mode protection layers, making its stability essential for overall system security and functionality. The vulnerability specifically targets the driver's handling of native API calls, which are direct system calls that bypass the standard Windows API layer and operate at the kernel level where system privileges are highest.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through a carefully crafted native API call that triggers an access violation within the KLIF kernel driver. This access violation manifests as an unhandled exception that causes the kernel driver to crash, resulting in a system-wide denial of service condition. The flaw exists because the driver fails to properly validate or sanitize incoming native API calls before processing them, allowing malicious input to cause memory access violations that lead to system instability. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates at the kernel level where the security boundaries are most critical, and the access violation occurs in the driver's syscall filtering functionality rather than in user-mode applications. This particular vulnerability falls under the CWE-121 category of stack-based buffer overflow and is classified as a kernel-mode privilege escalation vector within the ATT&CK framework under the T1068 technique for exploit for privilege escalation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple system crashes as it can be leveraged by local attackers to cause persistent denial of service conditions that may require system reboots or manual driver restoration. When the KLIF driver crashes due to this access violation, it disrupts the entire security monitoring framework of Kaspersky Internet Security, leaving the system temporarily unprotected against malware and other threats. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where security software is critical for maintaining system integrity and where a single system crash could have cascading effects on network security. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by simply running a specially crafted program from user-mode that triggers the specific sequence of native API calls designed to cause the access violation, making the attack surface extremely broad and easily executable.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on immediate patching of the affected Kaspersky Internet Security versions, as the vendor would have released a security update addressing the syscall filtering implementation. System administrators should implement monitoring solutions to detect unusual driver crashes or access violations that may indicate exploitation attempts. The recommended approach includes maintaining updated antivirus software with proper patch management procedures, implementing application whitelisting to prevent execution of malicious programs, and establishing robust system monitoring that can detect kernel-level anomalies. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing network segmentation and access controls to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation in kernel-mode drivers and highlights the need for comprehensive security testing of security software components that operate with elevated privileges. System hardening measures such as disabling unnecessary kernel-mode drivers, implementing kernel patch protection, and using modern operating system security features like kernel address space layout randomization should be considered as additional defensive measures against similar vulnerabilities in security software components.