CVE-2005-2340 in QuickTime
Summary
by MITRE
Heap-based buffer overflow in Apple Quicktime before 7.0.4 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted (1) QuickTime Image File (QTIF), (2) PICT, or (3) JPEG format image with a long data field.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/14/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2005-2340 represents a critical heap-based buffer overflow in Apple QuickTime software versions prior to 7.0.4. This flaw resides in the handling of various image formats including QuickTime Image Files QTIF, PICT format images, and JPEG format images. The vulnerability manifests when these specific image formats contain crafted data fields with excessive length parameters that exceed the allocated buffer boundaries during parsing operations. The root cause stems from inadequate input validation and bounds checking within the image parsing routines that process these multimedia formats.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability exploits the heap memory management mechanisms within QuickTime's image processing components. When the software encounters a malformed image file with oversized data fields, it attempts to allocate memory on the heap to accommodate the excessive data without proper boundary verification. This leads to memory corruption that can be leveraged by attackers to overwrite adjacent memory locations, potentially including return addresses or function pointers. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it operates in a remote attack scenario, meaning malicious actors can trigger the overflow through network-based delivery mechanisms without requiring local system access or user interaction beyond viewing the compromised image.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple code execution as it provides attackers with a pathway for arbitrary code injection within the context of the QuickTime application. This creates significant security implications for users who may inadvertently encounter maliciously crafted image files while browsing websites, opening email attachments, or downloading multimedia content. The vulnerability affects a wide range of systems that utilize QuickTime for media playback, making it particularly attractive to attackers seeking broad exploitation coverage. According to CWE classification, this represents a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability (CWE-119) that falls under the broader category of memory safety issues affecting software components that process untrusted input data.
The attack vector for CVE-2005-2340 aligns with the ATT&CK framework's technique T1203, which describes exploitation of software vulnerabilities to execute arbitrary code. Attackers can craft malicious image files that, when processed by vulnerable QuickTime versions, trigger the buffer overflow condition. The exploitation typically involves careful construction of data fields within the image format headers to ensure that the overflow occurs at predictable memory locations, enabling successful code injection. This vulnerability demonstrates the importance of input sanitization and robust memory management practices in multimedia processing libraries, as it represents a classic example of how untrusted data can compromise application security through improper bounds checking.
Organizations and users affected by this vulnerability should prioritize immediate patching to version 7.0.4 or later of Apple QuickTime, which contains the necessary fixes for the heap overflow conditions. System administrators should implement network-based security controls to block or scan for known malicious image files, particularly those with suspicious file extensions or originating from untrusted sources. Additionally, users should exercise caution when opening multimedia content from unknown origins and consider disabling automatic playback of multimedia content in web browsers and email clients. The vulnerability also highlights the need for regular security assessments of multimedia processing components and implementation of defense-in-depth strategies including application whitelisting and runtime monitoring to detect anomalous behavior patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts.