CVE-2018-15367 in Trend Micro
Summary
by MITRE
A ctl_set KERedirect Untrusted Pointer Dereference Privilege Escalation vulnerability in Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac (Consumer) 7.0 (2017) and above could allow a local attacker to escalate privileges on vulnerable installations. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/06/2020
The vulnerability CVE-2018-15367 represents a critical privilege escalation flaw within Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac versions 7.0 and later, specifically affecting consumer installations. This issue manifests as a KERedirect Untrusted Pointer Dereference vulnerability that operates at the kernel level, creating a pathway for local attackers to elevate their privileges from standard user level to administrative access. The flaw resides within the kernel extension component of the antivirus software, making it particularly dangerous as it operates in the most privileged execution context of the operating system.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper validation of user-supplied data within the kernel extension's control flow. When the system processes certain control commands through the KERedirect mechanism, it fails to properly sanitize or validate pointer references originating from user-space applications. This unvalidated pointer dereference creates an opportunity for an attacker to manipulate memory references and redirect execution flow to arbitrary code locations. The vulnerability specifically affects the kernel extension's handling of control structures that are meant to be exclusively managed by trusted system components, but instead accept untrusted input that can be crafted by malicious users.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability requires an attacker to first establish a foothold on the target system with low-privileged user access, which is a common prerequisite for many privilege escalation attacks. Once the attacker has this initial access, they can leverage the untrusted pointer dereference to execute malicious code with kernel-level privileges, effectively compromising the entire system. The impact extends beyond simple privilege escalation as it allows attackers to bypass standard security controls, access encrypted data, modify system files, and potentially establish persistent backdoors. This vulnerability directly violates the principle of least privilege and undermines the security model of macOS by allowing user-space code to manipulate kernel memory structures.
The exploitability of this vulnerability aligns with common attack patterns documented in the attack framework, particularly relating to kernel-level privilege escalation techniques that are categorized under ATT&CK technique T1068. The vulnerability creates a direct pathway for attackers to achieve system compromise through kernel manipulation, which is a preferred target for advanced persistent threat actors. Organizations should note that this vulnerability affects a widely deployed security solution, making it particularly concerning as attackers may target systems running Trend Micro Antivirus to gain elevated access. The issue demonstrates the critical importance of kernel-level code review and proper input validation, as flaws in security software can create the most dangerous attack vectors.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patching of affected Trend Micro Antivirus installations, as the vendor has released updates to address this specific vulnerability. System administrators should implement monitoring for suspicious kernel activity and user privilege escalation attempts. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing additional security controls such as kernel extension whitelisting and enhanced system integrity monitoring. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security software and the need for comprehensive security testing of kernel components. This flaw also underscores the necessity of following secure coding practices as defined by CWE categories related to pointer management and input validation, specifically CWE-476 which addresses null pointer dereference vulnerabilities.