# CVE-2017-15920: Null dereference in n/a

> A local attacker can cause a system crash in Watchdog Anti-Malware by sending a malformed request to the zam32.sys driver.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 30 Oct 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-w559-q3f6-3xx4

## What is CVE-2017-15920?

CVE-2017-15920 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 30 Oct 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In Watchdog Anti-Malware 2.74.186.150 and Online Security Pro 2.74.186.150, the zam32.sys driver contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability that gets triggered when sending an operation to ioctl 0x80002054. This is due to the input buffer being NULL or the input buffer size being 0 as they are not validated.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-15920?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Watchdogdevelopment Anti-Malware, Watchdogdevelopment Online Security Pro.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-15920?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-15920 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-15920 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-15920 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- Watchdog Development Anti-Malware / Online Security Pro - NULL Pointer Dereference (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2018-6625](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6625/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2018-6627](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6627/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2017-15921](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15921/): Null dereference in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-15920 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-15920 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 30 Oct 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-15920 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2017-15920/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15920/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-15920
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-15920
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-15920

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15920/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.