Hackers using antivirus to sneak into computers

The Times of India reports that many free and commercial antivirus software are vulnerable to attacks that would allow hackers to gain access into a system running such software.

While this is nothing new, it does raise awareness into the issue that programs are just programs and the logic can detect a virus can itself be the target of a virus.

If the antivirus crashes, it can even cause remote system compromise. Attackers can steal information or cause denial of service' condition.
[...]
Using a variety of file fuzzing techniques, the team discovered abnormal behaviour in several security tools when handling complex or unusual executable header data. In such events, multiple bugs were found in antivirus software while processing malformed packed executables. Some of these bugs proved to be security vulnerabilities which could make the antivirus itself as a back door for hackers.

Src: Hackers using antivirus to sneak into computers | The Times of India