Sogou Input Method for Windows contains a vulnerability in the configuration retrieval mechanism of…

Why it is Yellow

• CVSS 8.9 high
• Remotely exploitable without logging in

References

• https://pinyin.sogou.com/changelog.php
• https://www.welivesecurity.com/en/eset-research/slippynunchucks-hijacks-sogou-input-methods-brand-promotion-mechanism-to-distribute-malware/

Original description

Sogou Input Method for Windows contains a vulnerability in the configuration retrieval mechanism of its SGTool.exe component. The application retrieves configuration data over unencrypted HTTP connections, allowing an attacker capable of manipulating network traffic to replace legitimate server responses with malicious configurations. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability to instruct SGTool.exe to download attacker-controlled files to arbitrary locations, including paths used by legitimate application components. This can result in arbitrary code execution when the downloaded files are subsequently executed or loaded by the application.