CVE-2022-28878 in Atlant
Summary
by MITRE • 07/22/2022
A Denial-of-Service vulnerability was discovered in the F-Secure Atlant and in certain WithSecure products while scanning fuzzed APK file it is possible that can crash the scanning engine.
Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/20/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-28878 represents a critical denial-of-service weakness affecting F-Secure Atlant and various WithSecure products that specifically manifests during the analysis of deliberately malformed apk files. This issue stems from insufficient input validation within the mobile application scanning engine, where the system fails to properly handle corrupted or maliciously crafted apk archives during the static analysis phase. The flaw allows attackers to craft specific apk files that, when processed by the affected scanning systems, trigger unexpected behavior leading to complete system crashes or service unavailability.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-400, which categorizes weaknesses related to resource exhaustion and improper input handling. The scanning engine lacks robust error handling mechanisms when encountering malformed apk structures, causing memory corruption or stack overflow conditions that result in immediate termination of the scanning process. This behavior represents a classic example of a buffer overflow vulnerability where the system attempts to parse and process corrupted data without adequate bounds checking or sanitization procedures. The vulnerability specifically impacts the Android application analysis capabilities of these security products, making them ineffective against malicious mobile threats while simultaneously rendering the protection system itself unusable.
The operational impact of CVE-2022-28878 extends beyond simple service disruption as it creates a significant security gap in mobile threat detection capabilities. Organizations relying on F-Secure Atlant or WithSecure products for mobile security monitoring face potential exposure during the scanning of suspicious or malicious mobile applications, as the security infrastructure becomes temporarily or permanently unavailable. This vulnerability directly impacts the availability component of the CIA triad, compromising the system's ability to provide continuous protection services. Attackers can exploit this weakness to perform targeted denial-of-service attacks against security infrastructure, potentially disrupting security operations and allowing malicious mobile applications to bypass detection mechanisms entirely.
Security professionals should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to isolate scanning infrastructure, deploying automated monitoring systems to detect service disruptions, and establishing alternative scanning procedures for suspicious mobile applications. Organizations should consider implementing additional input validation layers and robust error handling within their security toolchains to prevent similar issues from occurring. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under T1499.004, which covers network denial of service attacks, while also aligning with T1595.001 for reconnaissance activities that identify system weaknesses. Regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar input validation weaknesses in other security scanning components, particularly those handling untrusted file formats. The affected vendors should be monitored for security patches that address the underlying parsing logic and implement proper exception handling mechanisms to prevent arbitrary code execution or system crashes during file processing operations.