CVE-2007-4288 in Windows Media Player
Summary
by MITRE
Microsoft Windows Media Player 11 (wmplayer.exe) allows user-assisted remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a crafted .au file that triggers a divide-by-zero error, as demonstrated by iapetus.au.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/28/2017
Microsoft Windows Media Player 11 suffers from a critical divide-by-zero error vulnerability that can be exploited by remote attackers through user-assisted means. This vulnerability specifically affects the wmplayer.exe executable and occurs when processing specially crafted .au audio files. The flaw manifests as a divide-by-zero exception during the parsing of malformed audio data, leading to application instability and eventual crash. The vulnerability was demonstrated using a specific file named iapetus.au which contains crafted data structures designed to trigger this mathematical error condition. The divide-by-zero error represents a fundamental programming flaw that occurs when the application attempts to divide a numeric value by zero, causing the operating system to terminate the process. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-369 category of divide by zero errors, which are classified as security weaknesses that can lead to denial of service conditions. The attack vector requires user interaction since the malicious file must be opened or played by an unsuspecting user, making this a user-assisted remote attack rather than a fully automated exploit. The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple application crash, as it can be leveraged by attackers to disrupt media playback services or potentially as part of a broader attack chain. In enterprise environments, this vulnerability could be particularly dangerous when media files are shared across networks or when users download content from untrusted sources. The Windows Media Player application is widely distributed and frequently used, making this vulnerability particularly attractive to threat actors seeking to cause disruption or establish a foothold in target environments. The vulnerability demonstrates poor input validation and error handling practices within the audio file parsing code, where the application fails to properly sanitize or validate audio file headers before attempting mathematical operations. From an attack perspective, this vulnerability aligns with the ATT&CK technique T1203 - Exploitation for Execution, where adversaries may leverage application flaws to cause system instability or crash services. The vulnerability also represents a classic example of a buffer overflow or arithmetic error that can be exploited to cause application termination, which is a common pattern in denial of service attacks. Organizations should consider implementing network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure to potentially malicious media files. The vulnerability highlights the importance of regular security updates and patch management programs, as Microsoft would have addressed this issue through security patches. Proper input validation and exception handling should be implemented to prevent similar arithmetic errors from occurring in future versions of the media player application. System administrators should monitor for unusual application crashes or service disruptions that could indicate exploitation attempts, and should consider implementing application whitelisting policies to restrict execution of potentially malicious files. The vulnerability also underscores the need for comprehensive security testing during software development, particularly for applications that process external media files and must handle various file formats and encodings.