CVE-2012-1446
CWE-264Published: March 21, 2012· Updated: Jun 16, 2026
Official Description
The ELF file parser in Quick Heal (aka Cat QuickHeal) 11.00, McAfee Anti-Virus Scanning Engine 5.400.0.1158, AVEngine 20101.3.0.103 in Symantec Endpoint Protection 11, Norman Antivirus 6.06.12, eSafe 7.0.17.0, Kaspersky Anti-Virus 7.0.0.125, McAfee Gateway (formerly Webwasher) 2010.1C, Sophos Anti-Virus 4.61.0, CA eTrust Vet Antivirus 36.1.8511, Antiy Labs AVL SDK 2.0.3.7, PC Tools AntiVirus 7.0.3.5, Rising Antivirus 22.83.00.03, Fortinet Antivirus 4.2.254.0, and Panda Antivirus 10.0.2.7 allows remote attackers to bypass malware detection via an ELF file with a modified encoding field. NOTE: this may later be SPLIT into multiple CVEs if additional information is published showing that the error occurred independently in different ELF parser implementations.
Technical Analysis
CVE-2012-1446 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.
Exploitation requires some privileges, which limits the exposure to scenarios where an attacker has already gained initial access.
CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown
Affected Vendors & Products
Exploit & PoC Resources
All References (16)
Quick Facts
Related CVEs (CWE-264)
Recommended Actions
- →Apply vendor patches immediately
- →Monitor CVE-2012-1446 in threat intel feeds
- →Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts