How severe is CVE-2012-1420?

No CVSS score has been assigned to CVE-2012-1420 yet. Review the advisory details and affected package list to assess your exposure.

Which products are affected by CVE-2012-1420?

CVE-2012-1420 affects the following products: authentium command antivirus, cat quick heal, eset nod32 antivirus, f-prot f-prot antivirus, fortinet fortinet antivirus, k7computing antivirus, kaspersky kaspersky anti-virus, microsoft security essentials, and 3 more.

How do I patch CVE-2012-1420?

No patch has shipped for CVE-2012-1420 yet — track the authentium command antivirus advisory for a fixed release and apply the workarounds below in the meantime.

How do I detect CVE-2012-1420 across my infrastructure?

Inventory every authentium command antivirus deployment and check each version against the affected-products list above.

How do I mitigate CVE-2012-1420 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands. Alongside that, restrict the management interface to trusted networks and apply the vendor's recommended configuration mitigations.

Is CVE-2012-1420 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2012-1420 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2012-1420?

CVE-2012-1420 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 97.1%, placing it in the 100th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2012-1420?

CVE-2012-1420 is classified as CWE-264 (CWE-264). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

Which products and versions are affected by CVE-2012-1420?

CVE-2012-1420 affects authentium command antivirus (1 version, e.g. 5.2.11.5); cat quick heal (1 version, e.g. 11.00); eset nod32 antivirus (1 version, e.g. 5795); f-prot f-prot antivirus (1 version, e.g. 4.6.2.117), and 7 more product(s). Check the affected-products list on this page against your deployed version to confirm exposure.

When was CVE-2012-1420 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2012-1420 was published on March 21, 2012 and was last updated on June 16, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CVE-2012-1420: Command Antivirus

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

97.1%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Very High Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs100th percentile — riskier than 100% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

Description

The TAR file parser in Quick Heal (aka Cat QuickHeal) 11.00, Command Antivirus 5.2.11.5, F-Prot Antivirus 4.6.2.117, Fortinet Antivirus 4.2.254.0, K7 AntiVirus 9.77.3565, Kaspersky Anti-Virus 7.0.0.125, Antimalware Engine 1.1.6402.0 in Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0, NOD32 Antivirus 5795, Norman Antivirus 6.06.12, Panda Antivirus 10.0.2.7, and Rising Antivirus 22.83.00.03 allows remote attackers to bypass malware detection via a POSIX TAR file with an initial \7fELF character sequence. NOTE: this may later be SPLIT into multiple CVEs if additional information is published showing that the error occurred independently in different TAR parser implementations.

Affected Products

11 products · 11 configurations

Application

command antivirusauthentium

1 version

5.2.11.5

Application

quick healcat

1 version

11.00

Application

nod32 antiviruseset

1 version

5795

Application

f-prot antivirusf-prot

1 version

4.6.2.117

Application

fortinet antivirusfortinet

1 version

4.2.254.0

Application

antivirusk7computing

1 version

9.77.3565

Detection & mitigation playbook

Vendor / appliance

Detect
Inventory every authentium command antivirus deployment and check each version against the affected-products list above.
Remediation status
No patch has shipped for CVE-2012-1420 yet — track the authentium command antivirus advisory for a fixed release and apply the workarounds below in the meantime.
Mitigate without a patch
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands. Alongside that, restrict the management interface to trusted networks and apply the vendor's recommended configuration mitigations.

Frequently Asked Questions

The TAR file parser in Quick Heal (aka Cat QuickHeal) 11.00, Command Antivirus 5.2.11.5, F-Prot Antivirus 4.6.2.117, Fortinet Antivirus 4.2.254.0, K7 AntiVirus 9.77.3565, Kaspersky Anti-Virus 7.0.0.125, Antimalware Engine 1.1.6402.0 in Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0, NOD32 Antivirus 5795, Norman Antivirus 6.06.12, Panda Antivirus 10.0.2.7, and Rising Antivirus 22.83.00.03 allows remote attackers to bypass malware detection via a POSIX TAR file with an initial \7fELF character sequence. NOTE: this may later be SPLIT into multiple CVEs if additional information is published showing that the

O3 Security · Runtime Protection

Is CVE-2012-1420 being exploited in your environment?

Detect and block the exploit chain at execution, on systems you cannot patch yet.

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CVE-2012-1420 — Command Antivirus

EPSS Exploitation Probability

Description

Affected Products

Detection & mitigation playbook

Detect

Remediation status

Mitigate without a patch

Frequently Asked Questions

Is CVE-2012-1420 being exploited in your environment?