Description
Unspecified vulnerability in ClamAV before 0.88.5 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (scanning service crash) via a crafted Compressed HTML Help (CHM) file that causes ClamAV to "read an invalid memory location."
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | clamav | 0.88.5-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | clamav | 0.88.5-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | clamav | 0.88.5-1 | — |
| Debian 3.1 | clamav | 0.84-2.sarge.11 | DSA-1196-1 |
Public exploits
Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.
Third-party code, not reviewed by us. Public PoCs are sometimes fake or contain malware. Read the code first and run it only in an isolated lab, against systems you are authorised to test.
Exploit-DB 1
- Clam AntiVirus 0.88.4 - CHM Chunk Name Length Denial of Service (PoC) EDB-2586 · dos · Oct 17, 2006 · verified
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
Advisories 1
- DSA-1196-1 clamav Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
References
- ADV-2006-4034 vdb-entry
- 22488 third-party-advisory
- 22370 third-party-advisory
- SUSE-SA:2006:060 vendor-advisory
- 20061016 Clam AntiVirus ClamAV CHM Chunk Name Length DoS Vulnerability third-party-advisory
- 20537 vdb-entry
- MDKSA-2006:184 vendor-advisory
- 22626 third-party-advisory
- ADV-2006-4136 vdb-entry
- clamav-chm-dos(29608) vdb-entry
- 22421 third-party-advisory
- ADV-2006-4264 vdb-entry
- http://kolab.org/security/kolab-vendor-notice-13.txt
- GLSA-200610-10 vendor-advisory
- 1017068 vdb-entry
- DSA-1196 vendor-advisory
- 22551 third-party-advisory
- 22537 third-party-advisory
- 22498 third-party-advisory