Symantec AntiVirus symtdi.sys Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
07.11.07BACKGROUND
Symantec has a wide range of Anti-Virus and Internet Security products that are designed to protect users from viruses and other harmful software. More information can be found on the Symantec site at the following URL.
DESCRIPTION
Local exploitation of an input validation vulnerability in version 5.5.1.6 of symtdi.sys allows attackers to elevate privileges to SYSTEM.
The vulnerability specifically exists due to improper address space validation when the \symTDI device driver processes IOCTL 0x83022323. An attacker can overwrite an arbitrary address, including code segments, with a constant double word value by supplying a specially crafted Irp to the IOCTL handler function.
ANALYSIS
Exploitation allows an attacker to obtain elevated privileges by exploiting a kernel-mode driver. This could allow the attacker to gain complete control of the affected system.
Note that since the attacker can only overwrite with a constant double-word value, exploitation is not completely straight forward. However, this does not significantly impact the difficulty of exploitation since code segments can be overwritten within the kernel.
DETECTION
iDefense confirmed this vulnerability in version 5.5.1.6 of Symantec's symtdi.sys device driver as included with version 10 of Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition. Previous versions and related products that contain the affected driver are suspected vulnerable.
WORKAROUND
iDefense is currently unaware of any effective workaround for this issue.
VENDOR RESPONSE
Symantec has addressed this vulnerability by releasing updated versions of the SymTDI.sys device driver. The updated driver has been made available via LiveUpdate. For more information consult Symantec's advisory at the following URL.
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/security/Content/2007.07.11d.html
CVE INFORMATION
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project has assigned the name CVE-2007-3673 to this issue. This is a candidate for inclusion in the CVE list (http://cve.mitre.org/), which standardizes names for security problems.
DISCLOSURE TIMELINE
01/10/2007 Initial vendor notification
01/11/2007 Initial vendor response
07/11/2007 Coordinated public disclosure
CREDIT
This vulnerability was reported to iDefense by Zohiartze Herce.
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LEGAL NOTICES
Copyright © 2007 Verisign, Inc.
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