# CVE-2015-8986: Security feature bypass in Advanced Threat Defense (MATD)

> Attackers can evade malware detection in McAfee Advanced Threat Defense by crafting malware that detects the sandbox environment, leading to false negatives.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 14 Mar 2017
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-fx5p-69q8-6fj8

## What is CVE-2015-8986?

CVE-2015-8986 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Intel Advanced Threat Defense (MATD), published on 14 Mar 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Sandbox detection evasion vulnerability in hardware appliances in McAfee (now Intel Security) Advanced Threat Defense (MATD) 3.4.2.32 and earlier allows attackers to detect the sandbox environment, then bypass proper malware detection resulting in failure to detect a malware file (false-negative) via specially crafted malware.

Weakness: CWE-254

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-8986?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mcafee Advanced Threat Defense.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-8986?

No fix has been published for CVE-2015-8986 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2015-8986 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-8986 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Intel Advanced Threat Defense (MATD)

- [CVE-2019-3663](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-3663/): Advanced Threat Defense (ATD) - Unprotected storage of shared credentials vulnerability (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-4052](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-4052/): Auth bypass in Advanced Threat Defense (ATD) (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-4053](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-4053/): Command injection in Advanced Threat Defense (ATD) (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-3651](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-3651/): Advanced Threat Defense (ATD) - Information Disclosure vulnerability (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2017-4054](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-4054/): Command injection in Advanced Threat Defense (ATD) (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-8986 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-8986 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Intel Advanced Threat Defense (MATD), published on 14 Mar 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-8986 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Intel Advanced Threat Defense (MATD). No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8986/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8986/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-8986
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-8986
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-8986

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8986/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.