#VU32266 Heap-based buffer overflow in libarchive - CVE-2016-4300

Vulnerability identifier: #VU32266

Vulnerability risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 5.7 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2016-4300

CWE-ID: CWE-122

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
libarchive
Client/Desktop applications / Software for archiving

Vendor: libarchive

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the target system.

The vulnerability exists due to a boundary error in Integer overflow in the read_SubStreamsInfo function in archive_read_support_format_7zip.c in libarchive before 3.2.1. A remote attacker can use a 7zip file with a large number of substreams to trigger heap-based buffer overflow and execute arbitrary code on the target system.

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may result in complete compromise of vulnerable system.

Mitigation
Update to version 3.2.1.

Vulnerable software versions

libarchive: 3.2.0

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External links
https://blog.talosintel.com/2016/06/the-poisoned-archives.html
https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1844.html
https://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3657
https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/bulletinjul2016-3090568.html
https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinjul2016-3090544.html
https://www.securityfocus.com/bid/91326
https://www.talosintel.com/reports/TALOS-2016-0152/
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1348439
https://github.com/libarchive/libarchive/commit/e79ef306afe332faf22e9b442a2c6b59cb175573
https://github.com/libarchive/libarchive/issues/718
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-03
https://security-center.intel.com/advisory.aspx?intelid=INTEL-SA-00062&languageid=en-fr

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.