CVE-2005-4648 in dBpowerAMP Music Converter
Summary
by MITRE
Buffer overflow in Illustrate dBpowerAMP Music Converter 11.5 and earlier, possibly including (1) MusicConverter.exe, (2) playlist.exe, and (3) amp.exe, allows user-assisted attackers to cause a denial of service or execute arbitrary code via a .m3u playlist with a long entry, possibly involving large field names, as demonstrated by SecuBox.Labs.m3u. NOTE: this issue might be the same as the .m3u vulnerability in CVE-2004-1569, but if so, then CD:SF-LOC suggests creating a different identifier since the .m3u issue would affect different versions than the .pls issue.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/04/2017
The vulnerability described in CVE-2005-4648 represents a critical buffer overflow flaw affecting dBpowerAMP Music Converter versions 11.5 and earlier. This security weakness manifests specifically within the handling of .m3u playlist files, which are commonly used for organizing and managing audio media collections. The vulnerability impacts multiple executables including MusicConverter.exe, playlist.exe, and amp.exe, indicating a systemic issue within the application's playlist parsing mechanisms rather than isolated component failures.
The technical implementation of this buffer overflow occurs when the affected applications process .m3u playlist files containing excessively long entries or large field names. The flaw arises from inadequate input validation and bounds checking within the playlist parsing code, where the application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied data before copying it into fixed-size buffers. This allows attackers to craft malicious .m3u files that, when processed by the vulnerable software, can overwrite adjacent memory locations and potentially execute arbitrary code. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it can be triggered through user-assisted attack vectors, meaning an attacker need only convince a victim to open a specially crafted playlist file to exploit the system.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service to potentially enabling remote code execution, making it a severe threat to system security. Attackers could leverage this weakness to gain unauthorized control over affected systems, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The vulnerability's presence in multiple executables within the dBpowerAMP suite suggests a fundamental design flaw in the application's input handling architecture. Organizations using affected versions of the software face significant risk, particularly in environments where users might encounter malicious playlist files through email attachments, file sharing networks, or compromised websites. The vulnerability's classification aligns with CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and may also relate to CWE-122 for heap-based buffer overflows depending on the specific implementation details.
From an adversarial perspective, this vulnerability maps directly to several ATT&CK techniques including T1059 for command and script interpreter execution, T1203 for exploitation for client execution, and T1068 for exploit for privilege escalation. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that .m3u files are commonly shared and used across different platforms and applications, making them ideal vectors for propagation. Security professionals should note that this vulnerability likely represents a variant of the broader .m3u playlist handling issues previously documented in CVE-2004-1569, though the specific version impacts differ between the two CVEs. The recommended mitigations include immediate patching of affected software versions, implementing strict input validation for playlist files, and deploying application whitelisting controls to prevent execution of untrusted playlist files. Network-level defenses such as content filtering and sandboxing mechanisms should also be considered to reduce the risk of exploitation. Organizations should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all instances of the affected software and ensure proper remediation across their entire infrastructure.