CVE-2006-6250 in Songbird Media Player
Summary
by MITRE
Format string vulnerability in Songbird Media Player 0.2 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via an M3U Playlist file containing extended ASCII, which causes the Unicode converter to be invoked.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/21/2024
The CVE-2006-6250 vulnerability represents a format string flaw in Songbird Media Player version 0.2 and earlier, demonstrating a critical security weakness that enables remote attackers to execute denial of service attacks through carefully crafted M3U playlist files. This vulnerability specifically targets the media player's handling of extended ASCII characters within playlist files, triggering an unexpected invocation of the Unicode converter component. The flaw exploits the application's insufficient input validation mechanisms when processing playlist metadata, creating a scenario where malformed data can disrupt normal program execution flow.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper handling of string formatting operations within the Songbird player's playlist parsing subsystem. When an M3U file contains extended ASCII characters that trigger the Unicode conversion process, the application fails to properly sanitize or validate the input data before passing it to format string functions. This creates an exploitable condition where the Unicode converter receives unexpected parameter sequences that cause memory corruption or stack manipulation, ultimately leading to application crash and system instability. The vulnerability operates at the intersection of input processing and memory management, making it particularly dangerous as it can be triggered remotely through network-delivered playlist files.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability presents a significant risk to users who frequently access media playlists from untrusted sources. The remote attack vector means that malicious actors can deliver harmful M3U files through various channels including email attachments, web downloads, or shared network resources without requiring local system access. The denial of service condition effectively renders the media player unusable until manual restart or system reboot occurs, disrupting user productivity and potentially creating availability issues in enterprise environments where media playback is critical. The vulnerability also has implications for automated media processing systems that rely on consistent player behavior.
The exploitation of this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1203, which covers "Exploitation for Execution" through denial of service attacks, and maps to CWE-134, which describes "Use of Externally-Controlled Format String." Security professionals should consider implementing network segmentation controls to limit access to potentially malicious playlist files, while also ensuring regular updates and patches are deployed to address known vulnerabilities. Organizations should also establish strict content filtering policies for playlist files, particularly those originating from external sources, and maintain comprehensive monitoring of media player processes for unusual behavior patterns. Additionally, the vulnerability highlights the importance of robust input validation and proper error handling in multimedia applications, emphasizing the need for defensive programming practices that prevent external data from influencing internal program execution flows.
This vulnerability serves as a reminder of the critical importance of secure coding practices in media processing applications, where the complexity of format handling and international character support can create unexpected security attack surfaces. The incident underscores the necessity for thorough security testing of input parsing components, particularly those handling user-supplied data in multimedia environments. Organizations should prioritize regular security assessments of their media processing stacks and implement automated vulnerability scanning to identify similar format string vulnerabilities across their software portfolio.