CVE-2021-40837 Denial-of-Service (DoS) Vulnerability

Medium 4.6 Published 9 Feb 2022 Updated 4 Aug 2024

Remote attackers can cause a denial of service in F-Secure antivirus engines by submitting malicious ACE files for decompression.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Any signed-in user
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: A user has to click or open something
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2021-40837?

CVE-2021-40837 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in F-Secure endpoint protection products on Windows and Mac. F-Secure Linux Security (32-bit), F-Secure Linux Security 64, F-Secure Atlant, F-Secure Internet Gatekeeper & F-Secure Security Cloud, published on 9 Feb 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

Official description

A vulnerability affecting F-Secure antivirus engine before Capricorn update 2022-02-01_01 was discovered whereby decompression of ACE file causes the scanner service to stop. The vulnerability can be exploited remotely by an attacker. A successful attack will result in denial-of-service of the antivirus engine.

Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-40837?

It affects 6 products.

Products include F-Secure Atlant, F-Secure Elements Endpoint Detection and Response, F-Secure Elements Endpoint Protection, F-Secure Internet Gatekeeper, F-Secure Linux Security, F-Secure Security Cloud.

How do I fix CVE-2021-40837?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-40837 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.

Is CVE-2021-40837 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-40837 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Sources

Also known as GHSA-2whc-p527-687m.