Computer Associates eTrust EZ Antivirus Insecure File Permission
Vulnerability

iDEFENSE Security Advisory 12.15.04
http://www.idefense.com/application/poi/display?id=164
December 15, 2004

I. BACKGROUND

Computer Associates eTrust EZ Antivirus is antivirus protection software 
for home and business use. It provides complete protection, detection 
and elimination of thousands of computer viruses, worms, and Trojan 
Horse programs.

II. DESCRIPTION

Local exploitation of an insecure permission vulnerability in Computer
Associates eTrust EZ Antivirus allows attackers to escalate privileges
or disable protection.

Computer Associates eTrust EZ Antivirus is a product used to protect a
personal computer from virus infections. The vulnerability specifically 
exists in the default file Access Control List (ACL) settings that are 
applied during installation. When an administrator installs eTrust EZ 
Antivirus, the default ACL allows any user to modify the installed 
files. Because of the fact that some of the programs run as system 
services, a user can simply replace an installed eTrust EZ Antivirus 
file with their own malicious code that will later be executed with 
system privileges. One such file that would be a target for this is 
VetMsg.exe.

III. ANALYSIS

Successful exploitation allows local attackers to escalate privileges to 
the system level. It is also possible to use this vulnerability to 
simply disable protection by moving all of the executable files so that 
they cannot start upon a reboot.

IV. DETECTION

iDEFENSE has confirmed the existence of this vulnerability in eTrust EZ 
Antivirus version 7.0.1.4. According to Computer Associates, eTrust EZ
Antivirus r7.0.0 - r7.0.4 installed on PC's running Windows NT, 2000 or
XP and with NTFS formatted drives are also affected.

V. WORKAROUND

Apply proper Access Control List settings to the directory that eTrust 
EZ Antivirus is installed in. The ACL rules should make sure that no 
regular users can modify files in the directory.

VI. VENDOR RESPONSE

"With the assistance of iDEFENSE, Computer Associates has identified a
medium-risk vulnerability in the installation and updating components of
eTrustTM EZ Antivirus which may allow a local user to escalate their
user privileges on a PC and disable protection.

Effected generally available releases of eTrust EZ Antivirus include:
eTrust EZ Antivirus r7.0.0 - r7.0.4 installed on PC's
 - running Windows NT, 2000 or XP
 - with NTFS formatted drives

Computer Associates has actively addressed this issue in eTrust EZ
Antivirus r7.0.5 and above.

More information about this vulnerability and instructions on how to
upgrade to the latest version of eTrust EZ Antivirus can be found at:

http://crm.my-etrust.com/login.asp?username=guest&target=DOCUMENT&openparameter=2222

At Computer Associates, we take every report of exposure with the utmost
urgency, to ensure that no customer is left in a vulnerable situation. 
We have assigned this vulnerability the ID number 32054."

VII. CVE INFORMATION

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project has assigned the
names CAN-2004-1149 to these issues. This is a candidate for inclusion
in the CVE list (http://cve.mitre.org), which standardizes names for
security problems.

VIII. DISCLOSURE TIMELINE

10/26/2004  Initial vendor notification
10/29/2004  Initial vendor response
12/15/2004  Coordinated public disclosure

IX. CREDIT

The discoverer of this vulnerability wishes to remain anonymous.

Get paid for vulnerability research
http://www.idefense.com/poi/teams/vcp.jsp

X. LEGAL NOTICES

Copyright © 2004 iDEFENSE, Inc.

Permission is granted for the redistribution of this alert
electronically. It may not be edited in any way without the express
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part of this alert in any other medium other than electronically, please
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Disclaimer: The information in the advisory is believed to be accurate
at the time of publishing based on currently available information. Use
of the information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition.
There are no warranties with regard to this information. Neither the
author nor the publisher accepts any liability for any direct, indirect,
or consequential loss or damage arising from use of, or reliance on,
this information.