CVE-2006-0994
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 Sophos Anti-Virus products, including Anti-Virus for Windows 5.x before 5.2.1 and 4.x before 4.05, when cabinet file inspection is enabled, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a CAB file with "invalid folder count values," which leads to heap corruption.
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 confidenceSophos Anti-Virus for Windows versions 4.x before 4.05 and 5.x before 5.2.1 contains a heap corruption vulnerability when cabinet file inspection is enabled. Remote attackers can exploit this by crafting a malicious CAB file with invalid folder count values, leading to arbitrary code execution.
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> 4.00, < 4.05>= 5.0.0, < 5.2.1CVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
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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Check Sophos Anti-Virus installed versionOpen Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features and locate Sophos Anti-Virus, or check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Sophos\Sophos Anti-Virus\Version, or run the Sophos update program with /version flag if availableAffected if Version is 4.x below 4.05, or 5.x below 5.2.1 (versions 5.0.0 through 5.2.0 are also affected)
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Verify cabinet file inspection is enabledOpen the Sophos Anti-Virus console, navigate to Configure > Scanning options, and check if CAB file scanning is enabled; alternatively check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Sophos\Sophos Anti-Virus\Configuration\ScanCAB or similar scanning configuration entriesAffected if Cabinet file inspection or scanning is turned on (the vulnerability only triggers when this feature is enabled)
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Confirm both conditions are metReview the version and the cabinet scanning setting together - both must be true for the vulnerability to be exploitable in your environmentAffected if Vulnerable version (4.x < 4.05 or 5.x < 5.2.1) is installed AND cabinet file inspection is enabled
You are affected if you are running Sophos Anti-Virus version 4.x below 4.05 or version 5.x below 5.2.1 with cabinet file inspection enabled.
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 data4.055.2.1
Update Sophos Anti-Virus to version 5.2.1 or later for the 5.x branch, or 4.05 or later for the 4.x branch. If immediate patching is not possible, disable cabinet file inspection as a compensating control.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2006-0994 — 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-2006-0994 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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