CVE-2018-11005 in K7AntiVirus Premium
Summary
by MITRE • 01/12/2021
A Memory Leak issue was discovered in K7Computing K7AntiVirus Premium 15.01.00.53.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/11/2021
The memory leak vulnerability in K7Computing K7AntiVirus Premium version 15.01.00.53 represents a critical weakness in endpoint protection software that can significantly impact system performance and stability. This issue manifests as improper memory management within the antivirus solution's core components, specifically affecting how allocated memory is handled during routine scanning operations and system monitoring activities. The vulnerability falls under the broader category of memory management flaws that can lead to resource exhaustion and system degradation over time.
The technical flaw stems from the antivirus software's failure to properly release allocated memory blocks after their intended use, creating a gradual accumulation of unused memory segments that persist in the system's virtual memory space. This memory consumption pattern becomes particularly problematic during extended scanning operations or when multiple security processes are running simultaneously, as each iteration of the memory allocation cycle fails to clean up previous allocations. The root cause can be traced to inadequate garbage collection mechanisms and missing memory deallocation calls within the software's internal code structure, which violates fundamental principles of secure memory management practices.
The operational impact of this memory leak vulnerability extends beyond simple performance degradation to potentially compromise the overall security posture of infected systems. As memory consumption increases over time, the system may experience significant slowdowns, application crashes, and eventually complete system instability that could prevent normal operation. Attackers could potentially exploit this weakness by forcing the system into a state of memory exhaustion, which might create opportunities for privilege escalation or denial of service conditions. The vulnerability affects the reliability of the antivirus solution itself, as the software may become unresponsive or fail to perform critical security functions when system resources are depleted.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-401, which specifically addresses improper release of memory resources, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1490, which covers resource exhaustion attacks that leverage memory consumption to degrade system performance. The flaw represents a significant concern for enterprise environments where antivirus solutions are deployed across numerous endpoints, as the cumulative effect of memory leaks across multiple systems can create substantial operational overhead and potential security gaps. Organizations running this specific version of K7AntiVirus Premium should prioritize immediate remediation through official updates from the vendor, while implementing monitoring solutions to track memory consumption patterns and identify systems exhibiting abnormal resource usage behaviors.
Mitigation strategies should include immediate deployment of the vendor-provided security patch that addresses the memory management issues, alongside regular system monitoring to detect and respond to memory consumption anomalies. Network administrators should implement automated alerting mechanisms that trigger when memory usage exceeds predefined thresholds, particularly during peak security scanning periods. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing memory management best practices within their security operations centers, including regular system restarts to clear accumulated memory leaks and establishing baseline performance metrics for normal system operation. The vulnerability underscores the critical importance of proper memory management in security software and highlights the need for comprehensive testing of endpoint protection solutions to identify potential resource exhaustion scenarios that could compromise both system performance and security effectiveness.