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Secunia Research 22/12/2008

- Trend Micro HouseCall ActiveX Control Arbitrary Code Execution -

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Table of Contents

Affected Software.......................................... ..........1
Severity.......................................... ...................2
Vendor's Description of Software.....................................3
Description of Vulnerability..................................... ....4
Solution.......................................... ...................5
Time Table............................................. ..............6
Credits........................................... ...................7
References........................................ ...................8
About Secunia........................................... .............9
Verification...................................... ..................10

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1) Affected Software

* Trend Micro HouseCall ActiveX Control 6.51.0.1028 and 6.6.0.1278

NOTE: Other versions may also be affected.

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2) Severity

Rating: Highly critical
Impact: System comprimse
Where: Remote

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3) Vendor's Description of Software

"Trend Micro™ HouseCall is an application for checking whether your
computer has been infected by viruses, spyware, or other malware.
HouseCall performs additional security checks to identify and fix
vulnerabilities to prevent reinfection."

Product Link:
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

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4) Description of Vulnerability

Secunia Research has discovered a vulnerability in Trend Micro
HouseCall, which can be exploited by malicious people to compromise a
user's system.

The vulnerability is caused due to an implementation error within the
HouseCall ActiveX control (Housecall_ActiveX.dll). This can be
exploited to e.g. download and load an arbitrary library file by
specifying a custom update server.

Successful exploitation allows execution of arbitrary code.

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5) Solution

Remove the ActiveX control and install version 6.6.0.1285.
http://prerelease.trendmicro-europe.com/hc66/launch/

HouseCall Server Edition:
Apply hotfix B1285.

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6) Time Table

18/08/2008 - Vendor notified.
19/08/2008 - Vendor response.
02/09/2008 - Vendor acknowledges vulnerability.
03/09/2008 - Vendor asks if version 6.6 is also affected.
03/09/2008 - Vendor informed that version 6.6 is not available.
09/09/2008 - Vendor informs that version 6.6 site is now accessible.
18/09/2008 - Vendor informed that version 6.6 is not affected by the
current exploit, but will be checked in-depth later.
23/09/2008 - Vendor informed that version 6.6 is also vulnerable
when using a slightly modified exploit.
27/09/2008 - Vendor provides status update.
13/11/2008 - Status update requested.
13/11/2008 - Vendor provides status update.
14/11/2008 - Vendor provides hotfix for testing.
14/11/2008 - Informed the vendor that the supplied hotfix does not
address the vulnerability properly.
18/11/2008 - Vendor requests updated exploit.
19/11/2008 - Updated exploit sent to the vendor.
22/12/2008 - Status update requested.
22/12/2008 - Vendor informs that hotfix for SA31583 also fixes this
vulnerability.
22/12/2008 - Public disclosure.

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7) Credits

Discovered by Alin Rad Pop, Secunia Research.

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8) References

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project has assigned
CVE-2008-2434 for the vulnerability.

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9) About Secunia

Secunia offers vulnerability management solutions to corporate
customers with verified and reliable vulnerability intelligence
relevant to their specific system configuration:

http://secunia.com/advisories/business_solutions/

Secunia also provides a publicly accessible and comprehensive advisory
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individuals, who are interested in or concerned about IT-security.

http://secunia.com/advisories/

Secunia believes that it is important to support the community and to
do active vulnerability research in order to aid improving the
security and reliability of software in general:

http://secunia.com/secunia_research/

Secunia regularly hires new skilled team members. Check the URL below
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http://secunia.com/corporate/jobs/

Secunia offers a FREE mailing list called Secunia Security Advisories:

http://secunia.com/advisories/mailing_lists/

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10) Verification

Please verify this advisory by visiting the Secunia website:
http://secunia.com/secunia_research/2008-32/

Complete list of vulnerability reports published by Secunia Research:
http://secunia.com/secunia_research/

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