Update Protection against Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Vulnerability (MS08-029)

Vulnerability
Protection

Check Point Reference:	CPAI-2008-070
Date Published:
Severity:
Last Updated:
Source:	Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-029
Industry Reference(s):	CVE-2008-1438
Protection Provided by:	VPN-1 NGX R65 NGX R62 NGX R61 NGX R60 VSX NGX R65 IPS-1 IPS-1 IPS-1 NGX R65
Who is Vulnerable? Windows Live OneCare Microsoft Antigen for Exchange 9.x Microsoft Antigen for SMTP Gateway 9.x Microsoft Windows Defender for Windows XP Microsoft Windows Defender in Windows Vista Microsoft Forefront Client Security Microsoft Forefront Edge Server Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint Standalone System Sweeper with MDOP
Vulnerability Description A denial of service vulnerability has been identified in the Microsoft Malware Protection Engine. The Microsoft Malware Protection Engine provides the scanning, detection and cleaning capabilities for the following antivirus and antispyware clients: Windows Live OneCare, Microsoft Forefront Security, Microsoft Antigen, and Windows Defender. A remote attacker could exploit this issue via a specially crafted file. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may lead to a disk-space exhaustion denial of service condition.

Update/Patch Available
Apply patches:
Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-029

Vulnerability Details
The vulnerability is due to an error in the Microsoft Malware Protection Engine that fails to properly validate certain data structures while parsing files. A remote attacker could trigger this flaw by convincing a victim to open a specially crafted file that allows a denial of service when the target Microsoft Malware Protection Engine scans it. Successful exploitation of this issue may cause the affected system to create large temporary files, creating a denial of service condition by filling up the systems disk space.

Protection Overview
By enabling this protection, SmartDefense will detect and block malformed files attempting to exploit this vulnerability.

In order for the protection to be activated, update your VPN-1 product to the latest SmartDefense update. For information on how to update SmartDefense, go to SBP-2006-05, Protection tab and select the version of your choice.

To configure the defense, select your product from the list below and follow the related protection steps.

VPN-1 NGX R65 & R62

How Can I Protect My Network?
1. In the SmartDefense tab, click Application Intelligence > Content Protection > Block Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Vulnerability (MS08-029).
2. In the configuration pane, under Settings > Mode, check Active.
3. Install policy on all modules.

How Do I Know if My Network is Under Attack?
SmartView Tracker will log the following entries:

Attack Name: Content Protection Violation
Attack Information: MS malware protection engine vulnerability detected (MS08-029)

VPN-1 NGX R61 & R60

How Can I Protect My Network?
1. In the SmartDefense tree, click Application Intelligence > Content Protection.
2. Select the following:

Block Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Vulnerability (MS08-029)

3. Install policy on all modules.

VPN-1 VSX NGX R65

IPS-1 & IPS-1 NGX R65

How Can I Protect My Network?
1. In the IPS-1 Policy Manager, click on the Protection tab.
2. In the Protection tree, click Application Intelligence > Badfiles, and select the Microsoft .NET CLI PE Header Memory Corruption protection group.
3. Click CVE-2008-1438 Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Vulnerability (MS08-029) (IPS-1 NGX R65 only).
4. In the configuration pane, under Settings, check Active.
5. Click on Install Policy.

How Do I Know if My Network is Under Attack?
Upon attack, the following entry will be logged:

Alert Name: badfiles_pe
Description: cve_2008_1438_alert

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