CVE-2018-25274

Executive Summary

CVE-2018-25274 is a denial of service (DoS) vulnerability in InfraRecorder version 0.53. The flaw allows a local attacker to crash the application by importing a maliciously crafted text file containing 6000 bytes of data via the Edit menu's Import function. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 6.2 (Medium) and is currently unpatched. No public exploit code or Nuclei templates are available, but the attack vector is straightforward and requires only user interaction.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 6.2 (Medium)
• Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
• Attack Vector: Local (AV:L) – requires physical or remote desktop access.
• Attack Complexity: Low (AC:L) – no special conditions.
• Privileges Required: None (PR:N) – attacker does not need elevated privileges.
• User Interaction: Required (UI:R) – victim must import the malicious file.
• Scope: Unchanged (S:U) – impact is confined to the application.
• Confidentiality Impact: None (C:N)
• Integrity Impact: None (I:N)
• Availability Impact: High (A:H) – application crashes, causing denial of service.

Threat Level: Medium. The vulnerability is easy to exploit but requires user interaction and local access. No remote exploitation is possible.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability resides in the Import functionality of InfraRecorder's Edit menu. When a text file containing exactly 6000 bytes of data is imported, the application fails to properly handle the input size, leading to a buffer overflow or similar memory corruption. This causes the application to crash, resulting in a denial of service.

The root cause is a lack of input validation on the size of the imported text file. The application likely allocates a fixed-size buffer and does not check if the incoming data exceeds that buffer, leading to an overflow when 6000 bytes are processed.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, the vulnerable code remains in InfraRecorder 0.53. A hypothetical patch would involve adding input validation to check the file size before processing, and either truncating the data or rejecting files larger than a safe threshold.

Vulnerable Code (Conceptual):

void import_text_file(char *filename) {
    char buffer[4096];
    FILE *file = fopen(filename, "r");
    if (file) {
        fread(buffer, 1, 6000, file); // No size check, overflow possible
        // Process buffer...
    }
}

Patched Code (Conceptual):

void import_text_file(char *filename) {
    char buffer[4096];
    FILE *file = fopen(filename, "r");
    if (file) {
        size_t bytes_read = fread(buffer, 1, sizeof(buffer) - 1, file);
        if (bytes_read >= sizeof(buffer)) {
            // Handle error: file too large
            fclose(file);
            return;
        }
        buffer[bytes_read] = '\0';
        // Process buffer...
    }
}

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Attack Simulation)

1. Create the malicious file: Generate a text file containing exactly 6000 bytes of arbitrary data (e.g., all 'A' characters).
2. Deliver the file: Place the file on the target system via email, USB, or shared folder.
3. Trigger the vulnerability: Open InfraRecorder 0.53, go to Edit > Import, and select the malicious file.
4. Observe crash: The application will crash immediately, causing a denial of service.

Example file creation (Python):

with open("malicious.txt", "w") as f:
    f.write("A" * 6000)

Blue Team (Defense & Detection)

• Monitor for crashes: Use Windows Event Logs to detect application crashes (Event ID 1000 for Application Error).
• File integrity monitoring: Alert on creation of text files with unusual sizes (e.g., exactly 6000 bytes) in user directories.
• User awareness: Train users not to import files from untrusted sources.
• Application whitelisting: Restrict execution of InfraRecorder if not needed.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• File: A text file with exactly 6000 bytes of data.
• Process: InfraRecorder.exe crashes with exception code 0xc0000005 (access violation).
• Event Log: Windows Application Event ID 1000 with faulting module InfraRecorder.exe and fault offset related to the import function.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2018_25274_InfraRecorder_DoS {
    meta:
        description = "Detects malicious text file used to crash InfraRecorder 0.53"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2018-25274"
    strings:
        $file_size = { 00 17 70 } // 6000 bytes in little-endian (0x1770)
    condition:
        filesize == 6000 and
        for any of them : ($)
}

Sigma Rule

title: InfraRecorder Crash via Malicious Text File
id: 7a8b3c4d-5e6f-7a8b-9c0d-1e2f3a4b5c6d
status: experimental
description: Detects application crash of InfraRecorder.exe when importing a 6000-byte text file
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    product: windows
    service: application
detection:
    selection:
        EventID: 1000
        Application: 'InfraRecorder.exe'
        ExceptionCode: '0xc0000005'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium

Suricata Rule

alert tcp $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (msg:"CVE-2018-25274 InfraRecorder DoS - Malicious File Transfer"; flow:to_server; file_data; content:"|00 17 70|"; within:4; byte_test:4,=,6000,0,relative; classtype:attempted-dos; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

• No official patch available. The vendor (InfraRecorder) has not released a fix.
• Mitigation: Avoid using InfraRecorder 0.53. If necessary, do not import text files from untrusted sources.
• Alternative: Use a different CD/DVD burning tool that is actively maintained.
• Workaround: Apply a file size filter at the OS level to block files of exactly 6000 bytes from being processed by InfraRecorder.

Valters IT
Senior DevSecOps & Cyber Threat Intelligence Expert

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