CVE-2024-4978Justice AV Solutions (JAVS) Viewer Installer Embedded Malicious Code Vulnerability
CVE-2024-4978 is a embedded malicious code in Justice AV Solutions Viewer, rated high (8.7 on CVSS 4.0).
Why this priority: Exploited in the wild: listed in CISA's KEV catalog.
Published · Updated · NVD status: Analyzed
What it is
The product itself contains code that acts against its users.
How it is reached
An attacker can exploit it over the network, with an administrator account, but someone has to act first, such as opening a file or following a link. Success also depends on conditions the attacker does not fully control.
What an attacker gains
A successful attack can read the data it protects, change data or behaviour and take it offline. In practice, this kind of flaw lets an attacker run their code inside your build or your running service. The damage can spread past the vulnerable component into others.
Is it being exploited?
CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2024-05-29: it is being exploited in the wild. EPSS estimates a 27% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 98% of scored CVEs.
What to do
- Treat it as urgent: it is on CISA's KEV list. CISA's deadline for US federal agencies: 2024-06-19.
- No fixed version is listed yet. Find every place Justice AV Solutions Viewer runs, watch the references for a fix, and plan a replacement if it is no longer supported.
- While there is no fix, review who holds accounts that can reach it.
- Warn the people who use it, and filter files and links on the way in.
- Check exposed instances for signs of compromise, not only for the version.
Description from NVD
Justice AV Solutions Viewer Setup 8.3.7.250-1 contains a malicious binary when executed and is signed with an unexpected authenticode signature. A remote, privileged threat actor may exploit this vulnerability to execute of unauthorized PowerShell commands.
What this means for your architecture.
A CVE names a product. Whether it matters depends on where that product sits in your systems: what reaches it, which trust boundary it guards and what it can reach once compromised. Veriom maps your components, their relationships and your trust boundaries from your code, cloud and delivery evidence, so you can see where a component like this sits. The radar itself does not look at your systems.
Components it touches
- Build pipelines, dependencies and plugins. The flaw sits between third-party code and your build or runtime.
- Update channels. The flaw sits between third-party code and your build or runtime.
Trust boundaries in play
- Authenticated network access. An account is needed, so exposure follows who can sign in: customers, partners or staff.
- People who open files and links. Mail, chat and browsers are the delivery path.
- Isolation between components. The impact crosses out of the vulnerable component into others it should be isolated from.
- Between third-party code and your build or runtime. An attacker who crosses it can run their code inside your build or your running service.
Questions to answer about your own systems
- Where does Justice AV Solutions Viewer run in your systems, and at which version?
- Which of those instances can be reached from the internet or partner networks?
- What can it reach once compromised: which data stores, secrets and services?
Read more
Advisories
Exploits and proofs of concept
More reading
Sources
- CVE records and CVSS scores from the NVD CVE API. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- Exploitation status from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
- Exploit likelihood from FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), refreshed daily.
- Explanations are written by Veriom from fixed templates over each record’s data, not by a person reviewing each CVE. Descriptions are quoted from the records as published.