-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA512

Advisory ID: SYSS-2015-007
Product: Kaspersky Internet Security (KIS)
Vendor: Kaspersky Lab ZAO
Affected Version(s): 15.0.2.361
Tested Version(s): 15.0.2.361 
Vulnerability Type: Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or 
                    Channel (CWE-288)
Risk Level: Medium
Solution Status: Fixed
Vendor Notification: 2015-02-19
Solution Date: 2015-10-01
Public Disclosure: 2015-10-01
CVE Reference: Not yet assigned
Authors of Advisory: Matthias Deeg and Sven Freund (SySS GmbH)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Overview:

Kaspersky Internet Security is an endpoint protection software with many
features defending users against different threats.

The vendor Kaspersky describes the product as follows (see [1]):

"Protects your privacy, your money & your kids from Internet risks
* Protects your PC against today’s Internet threats
* Adds extra security for online banking & shopping
* Safeguards your privacy and personal information
* Helps protect your children against online threats
* Combines superior security & optimized performance"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vulnerability Details:

The Kaspersky Internet Security software allows users to disable the
offered protection by entering a so-called unload password. Beside the
graphical user interface (GUI) authentication, it is also possible to
manually deactivate the protection over the command-line interface using
the Kaspersky software tool avp.exe.

By analyzing the password-based authentication for unloading the
Kaspersky Internet Security protection, the SySS GmbH found out, that
the password comparison is done within the process avp.exe (actually 
within the used module shell_service.dll), which runs or can be run in
the context of the current Windows user, who can also be a standard,
limited user.

This fact allows a further analysis and the manipulation of the password
comparison during runtime without administrative privileges, as every 
user is able to debug and manipulate the processes running with her user
privileges.

In order to bypass the password-based authentication to deactivate the 
protection of Kaspersky Internet Security in an unauthorized manner, an
attacker only has to patch this password comparison, so that it always
returns true, for example by comparing the correct unload password with
itself or by modifying the program control flow.

The SySS GmbH also found out, that by modifying the software tool
avp.exe, the Kaspersky Internet Security can also be deactivated
completely even when no password was set for protecting administrative
functions. The intended behavior of the software tool avp.exe in this
case is to deny access to the requested function, for example "exit",
due to a disabled password protection.

Thus, a limited Windows user or malware running in the context of such a
user is able to unload Kaspersky Internet Security in an unauthorized
manner regardless of the configured password protection.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Proof of Concept (PoC):

The SySS GmbH developed a proof-of-concept software tool named UnloadKIS
for deactivating Kaspersky Internet Security in an unauthorized manner.

The following output exemplarily shows a successful deactivation of
Kaspersky Internet Security:

>UnloadKIS.exe
                ____________________________________________________________
               /    _____       _____ _____                                 \
              /    /  ___|     /  ___/  ___|                                 \
             |     \ `--. _   _\ `--.\ `--.                                   |
             |      `--. \ | | |`--. \`--. \                                  |
             |     /\__/ / |_| /\__/ /\__/ /                                  |
              \    \____/ \__, \____/\____/   ... unloads KIS!               /
               \          __/ |                                             /
               /         |___/    _________________________________________/
              / _________________/
        (__) /_/
        (oo)
  /------\/
 / |____||
*  ||   ||
   ^^   ^^
SySS Unload KIS v1.0 by Matthias Deeg & Sven Freund - SySS GmbH (c) 2015

[+] Found location of the executable file avp.exe
[+] Created new instance of the Kaspersky Internet Security process avp.exe
[+] The Kaspersky Internet Security process was patched successfully.
    Kaspersky Internet Security will now exit without a password.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Solution:

According to information by Kaspersky, the described security issue has
been fixed in newer software releases.

Please contact the manufacturer for further information or support.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Disclosure Timeline:

2015-02-19: Vulnerability reported to manufacturer
2015-02-19: Manufacturer acknowledges e-mail with SySS security advisory          
2015-03-17: Rescheduling of the publication date in agreement with the
            manufacturer
2015-04-14: Rescheduling of the publication date in agreement with the
            manufacturer
2015-09-28: SySS asks for further information about software fix
2015-10-01: Public release of security advisory on agreed publication
            date

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

References:

[1] Product Web site for Kaspersky Total Security
    http://www.kaspersky.com/total-security-multi-device
[2] SySS Security Advisory SYSS-2015-007
    https://www.syss.de/fileadmin/dokumente/Publikationen/Advisories/SYSS-2015-007.txt
[3] SySS Responsible Disclosure Policy
    https://www.syss.de/en/news/responsible-disclosure-policy/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Credits:

This security vulnerability was found by Matthias Deeg and Sven Freund
of the SySS GmbH.

E-Mail: matthias.deeg (at) syss.de
Public Key: https://www.syss.de/fileadmin/dokumente/Materialien/PGPKeys/Matthias_Deeg.asc
Key fingerprint = D1F0 A035 F06C E675 CDB9 0514 D9A4 BF6A 34AD 4DAB

E-Mail: sven.freund (at) syss.de
Public Key: https://www.syss.de/fileadmin/dokumente/Materialien/PGPKeys/Sven_Freund.asc
Key fingerprint = DCDB 7627 C1E3 9CE8 62DF 2666 8A5F A853 415D 46DC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Disclaimer:

The information provided in this security advisory is provided "as is" 
and without warranty of any kind. Details of this security advisory may 
be updated in order to provide as accurate information as possible. The
latest version of this security advisory is available on the SySS Web 
site.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Copyright:

Creative Commons - Attribution (by) - Version 3.0
URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v2
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=ghID
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----