-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA512 Advisory ID: SYSS-2015-015 Product: Panda Gold Protection 2015 Vendor: Panda Security Affected Version(s): 15.1.0 Tested Version(s): 15.1.0 Vulnerability Type: Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel (CWE-288) Risk Level: Medium Solution Status: Not fixed Vendor Notification: 2015-02-27 Solution Date: - Public Disclosure: 2015-04-14 CVE Reference: Not yet assigned Author of Advisory: Matthias Deeg (SySS GmbH) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Overview: Panda Gold Protection 2015 is an endpoint protection software with many features defending users against different threats. The vendor Panda Security describes the product as follows (see [1]): "Everything you need to protect - your PC, Mac® or Android, your data and family - against all types of threats, even those as yet undiscovered, is included in Panda Gold Protection. Enjoy real time protection against the latest malware. Surf, shop and play online with complete peace of mind." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vulnerability Details: The endpoint protection software Panda Gold Protection 2015 offers a password protection in order to restrict access to the management console. With an enabled password protection, changing settings or deactivating the protection features requires the set password. By analyzing the password-based authentication of the implemented password protection, the SySS GmbH found out, that the password comparison is done within the process PSUAMain.exe (actually within the used module PSUNConsole.dll), which runs 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, for example to deactivate the protection of Panda Gold Protection 2015 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 the actual set password for the password protection can be extracted as cleartext during runtime from the process PSUAMain.exe. Thus, a limited Windows user or malware running in the context of such a user is able to deactivate Panda Gold Protection 2015 in an unauthorized manner and furthermore to extract the actual password as cleartext. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Proof of Concept (PoC): The SySS GmbH developed a proof-of-concept software tool named UnloadPanda for deactivating the Panda protection in an unauthorized manner. The following output exemplarily shows a successful bypass of the password-based authentication and of the cleartext password extraction: >UnloadPanda.exe ____________________________________________________________ / _____ _____ _____ \ / / ___| / ___/ ___| \ | \ `--. _ _\ `--.\ `--. | | `--. \ | | |`--. \`--. \ | | /\__/ / |_| /\__/ /\__/ / | \ \____/ \__, \____/\____/ ... unloads Panda! / \ __/ | / / |___/ _________________________________________/ / _________________/ (__) /_/ (oo) /------\/ / |____|| * || || ^^ ^^ SySS Unload Panda Protection v1.0 by Matthias Deeg - SySS GmbH (c) 2015 [+] The Panda process was patched successfully. Now you can unload the Panda protection with an arbitrary password. After entering an arbitrary password, the correct one will be shown. [+] The correct password is: s3cret1! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Solution: The SySS GmbH is currently not aware of a solution for the reported security vulnerability. Please contact the vendor for further information. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Disclosure Timeline: 2015-02-27: Vulnerability reported to vendor 2015-03-06: Reported vulnerability again as the vendor did not reply to to the first e-mail with the SySS security advisory 2015-03-06: Vendor acknowledges e-mail with SySS security advisory and opens a case 2015-04-14: Public release of security advisory according to the SySS Responsible Disclosure Policy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ References: [1] Product Web site for Panda Gold Protection 2015 http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/solutions/gold-protection/ [2] SySS Security Advisory SYSS-2015-015 https://www.syss.de/fileadmin/dokumente/Publikationen/Advisories/SYSS-2015-015.txt [3] SySS Responsible Disclosure Policy https://www.syss.de/en/news/responsible-disclosure-policy/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Credits: This security vulnerability was found by Matthias Deeg. E-Mail: matthias.deeg (at) syss.de Public Key: https://www.syss.de/fileadmin/dokumente/Materialien/PGPKeys/Matthias_Deeg.asc Key fingerprint = 5AE3 96EE A014 FB90 9D81 AF90 8C54 7E88 A34C CED8 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 iEYEAREKAAYFAlUs5tUACgkQjFR+iKNMztjfIgCdFli0fenjiTpTx2MfGG08VIR1 d7IAnA47g+jwnq5H8YS1Y7W/aPefZ90+ =sNK9 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----