CVE-2018-11739 in The Sleuth Kit
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in libtskimg.a in The Sleuth Kit (TSK) from release 4.0.2 through to 4.6.1. An out-of-bounds read of a memory region was found in the function raw_read in tsk/img/raw.c which could be leveraged by an attacker to disclose information or manipulated to read from unmapped memory causing a denial of service attack.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/21/2023
The vulnerability CVE-2018-11739 affects The Sleuth Kit (TSK) library version 4.0.2 through 4.6.1, specifically within the libtskimg.a component that handles image processing for digital forensics investigations. This issue resides in the raw_read function located in tsk/img/raw.c, which is responsible for reading raw disk image files during forensic analysis operations. The flaw represents a classic out-of-bounds memory access vulnerability that can be exploited by malicious actors to gain unauthorized information disclosure or cause system instability.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate bounds checking within the raw_read function where the program fails to validate array indices or buffer limits before accessing memory regions. This type of flaw falls under CWE-129, which specifically addresses insufficient bounds checking, and can be categorized as a memory safety issue that allows attackers to manipulate memory access patterns. When processing malformed or specially crafted disk images, the function attempts to read beyond allocated memory boundaries, potentially accessing unmapped memory regions or adjacent data structures that contain sensitive information.
From an operational standpoint, this vulnerability poses significant risks to digital forensics workflows where The Sleuth Kit is extensively used for investigating compromised systems and analyzing disk images. An attacker could exploit this weakness by crafting malicious disk images designed to trigger the out-of-bounds read condition during normal forensic processing. The consequences include potential information disclosure where sensitive data from adjacent memory locations might be exposed, or more severe denial-of-service conditions that could crash forensic analysis tools and disrupt critical investigations. The vulnerability particularly impacts automated forensic processing systems that handle large volumes of disk image data without extensive manual validation.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-11739 should prioritize immediate patching of affected The Sleuth Kit versions to 4.6.2 or later where the bounds checking has been properly implemented. Organizations should also implement defensive programming practices such as input validation for disk image files, memory access monitoring, and runtime bounds checking mechanisms. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this type of vulnerability under T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter and T1499 System Network Configuration Discovery, as attackers could leverage information disclosure to understand system configurations or use denial-of-service conditions to disrupt forensic investigations. Additionally, forensic analysts should maintain strict file validation procedures and consider using sandboxed environments for processing untrusted disk images to prevent exploitation of such memory safety vulnerabilities.