CVE-2018-5276 in Anti-Malware
Summary
by MITRE
In Malwarebytes Premium 3.3.1.2183, the driver file (FARFLT.SYS) allows local users to cause a denial of service (BSOD) or possibly have unspecified other impact because of not validating input values from IOCtl 0x9c40e018.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/05/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-5276 resides within the Malwarebytes Premium 3.3.1.2183 driver component known as FARFLT.SYS which operates at the kernel level of the Windows operating system. This driver serves as a critical security component responsible for protecting against malware and other malicious threats by monitoring system activities and intercepting potentially harmful operations. The flaw manifests in the driver's handling of input validation for a specific IOCTL (Input/Output Control) command identified by the code 0x9c40e018, which represents a mechanism for communication between user-mode applications and kernel-mode drivers in the Windows operating system architecture.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the driver's IOCTL handling routine. When a user-mode application sends a request to the driver using the specified IOCTL code, the driver fails to properly validate the parameters received from the input buffer. This validation gap creates an opportunity for malicious input to be processed without proper sanitization, allowing an attacker to craft specially formatted input data that can cause unpredictable behavior within the driver's memory management and execution context. The lack of input validation represents a classic security weakness that falls under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-20, which specifically addresses "Improper Input Validation" as a fundamental flaw in software security design.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service conditions, though that represents the most immediate threat. Local users with standard system privileges can trigger a blue screen of death (BSOD) by exploiting this weakness, effectively causing system crashes that require manual restart and potentially resulting in data loss or service interruption. The vulnerability's potential for unspecified other impacts suggests that under certain conditions, the malformed input processing could lead to privilege escalation opportunities or memory corruption that might allow for more sophisticated attacks. This represents a significant concern for endpoint security solutions where local privilege escalation could enable attackers to bypass security controls and gain elevated system access. The vulnerability directly aligns with ATT&CK technique T1068, which covers "Exploitation for Privilege Escalation" and demonstrates how kernel-level flaws in security software can be weaponized to undermine the very protections they are designed to provide.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-5276 should focus on both immediate remediation and long-term architectural improvements. The most effective immediate solution involves updating to Malwarebytes Premium version 3.4.0 or later, where the vendor has addressed the input validation issue within the FARFLT.SYS driver component. System administrators should also implement monitoring solutions to detect potential exploitation attempts, particularly focusing on unusual IOCTL activity patterns and system crashes. Network segmentation and privilege separation can help limit the potential impact of successful exploitation attempts, while regular security assessments should verify that no other similar vulnerabilities exist within the security software stack. Organizations should also consider implementing behavioral monitoring to detect anomalous driver behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts, as the vulnerability's nature makes it particularly difficult to detect through traditional signature-based approaches due to its reliance on legitimate system interfaces.