Obsolete File Format Security Detection and Mitigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Obsolete file formats, lacking security patches, are vulnerable to attacks and pose a risk due to ongoing support, with existing solutions failing to preemptively identify and secure against malformed files that can exploit memory corruption vulnerabilities.
Innovation Solution
A security device captures and checks files for obsolete formats, determining if they are insecure and taking action to prevent legacy-leveraged zero-day attacks by warning users and potentially blocking or quarantining such files.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If security patches are provided for all file formats, then security reliability is improved, but device complexity and maintenance burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and isolates obsolete file formats from the set of supported formats, creating a separate category that can be handled differently. By identifying and separating these obsolete formats, the system can apply specialized security measures without needing to maintain complex security patches for all formats, thus reducing overall device complexity while improving security reliability for the extracted obsolete portion.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary detection and identification of obsolete file formats before they are processed or executed. By performing this detection action in advance, the system can prevent potentially vulnerable files from being processed, eliminating the need for complex security patches on obsolete formats while maintaining security reliability through proactive prevention.
2Reliability
If sandboxing is used to detect insecure obsolete file formats, then security reliability is improved, but processing time and resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary identification of obsolete file formats using metadata and file signature analysis before executing more resource-intensive sandboxing. This preliminary action filters out obsolete formats that don't require full sandboxing analysis, reducing processing time while maintaining security reliability by applying sandboxing only when necessary.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the security analysis process into multiple stages: first identifying obsolete formats through lightweight metadata analysis, then applying full sandboxing only to files that pass the initial filter. This segmentation allows the system to maintain security reliability through comprehensive analysis while reducing processing time by avoiding full sandboxing of all files.
3Adaptability or versatility
If obsolete file formats are continued to be supported, then adaptability and backwards compatibility are improved, but security vulnerability increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary security layer between the obsolete file formats and the execution environment. This intermediary component detects obsolete formats and applies specialized security measures, allowing the system to maintain backwards compatibility for obsolete formats while mitigating their inherent security vulnerabilities through the intermediate security processing layer.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary anti-action by detecting obsolete file formats before they can be executed and taking preventive measures to block or quarantine them. This preliminary action prevents malicious exploitation of obsolete formats while maintaining the ability to process them for legitimate purposes, thus balancing security vulnerability mitigation with adaptability requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are provided for mitigating obsolete file format based attacks. In one embodiment, a security device captures a file on a computer or to be transmitted to the computer. The security device checks the format of the file and determines whether the file format is obsolete. The security device takes an action on the file when the file format is determined to be obsolete.