CVE-2005-3380
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedMultiple interpretation error in Panda Titanium 2005 4.02.01 allows remote attackers to bypass virus scanning via a file such as BAT, HTML, and EML with an "MZ" magic byte sequence which is normally associated with EXE, which causes the file to be treated as a safe type that could still be executed as a dangerous file type by applications on the end system, as demonstrated by a "triple headed" program that contains EXE, EML, and HTML content, aka the "magic byte bug."
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidencePanda Titanium Antivirus misidentifies file types based on magic bytes. When BAT, HTML, or EML files contain 'MZ' (0x4D5A) magic bytes normally associated with EXE files, the antivirus incorrectly treats them as safe executables, bypassing malware scanning while the malicious content remains executable on target systems.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 4.02.01CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Panda Titanium Antivirus 2005 is installedOpen Windows Control Panel and check the list of installed programs for 'Panda Titanium Antivirus 2005', or check the installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Panda Software\Panda Titanium Antivirus\) for the executable files.Affected if Panda Titanium Antivirus 2005 is present on the system
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Verify the installed version is 4.02.01Right-click on the Panda icon in the system tray and select 'About' or 'Product Information', or look for a version file in the installation directory. Compare the displayed version to 4.02.01.Affected if The installed version is exactly 4.02.01 (no other versions are affected per the advisory)
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Confirm the antivirus real-time scanning is enabledOpen the Panda interface and verify that real-time protection (often called 'On-access scanning' or 'File Shield') is active and scanning files when they are accessed.Affected if Real-time scanning is enabled and actively scanning files
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Test file type misidentification behaviorCreate a test file with a .bat, .html, or .eml extension that contains the MZ magic bytes (0x4D5A) at the beginning of the file, then attempt to access or copy the file while Panda is scanning. Observe whether Panda treats it as a safe executable rather than scanning the malicious content.Affected if The antivirus skips malware scanning for files with these extensions when they contain MZ magic bytes, treating them as safe executables
The system is affected only if Panda Titanium 2005 version 4.02.01 is installed with real-time scanning enabled, and the vulnerability manifests when BAT, HTML, or EML files containing MZ (0x4D5A) magic bytes bypass malware detection.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade to a current antivirus solution as Panda Titanium 2005 is long end-of-life; modern AV products use multiple detection methods beyond magic byte analysis. Ensure heuristic/behavioral analysis is enabled as a defense-in-depth measure.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2005-3380 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2005-3380 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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