CVE-2007-4884 in Media Player Classic
Summary
by MITRE
Media Player Classic (MPC) allows user-assisted remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a malformed .au file that triggers a divide-by-zero error.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/29/2017
Media Player Classic version 1.0 and earlier suffers from a critical denial of service vulnerability that stems from inadequate input validation when processing audio files. This vulnerability specifically affects the handling of .au file format data, which is a standard audio file format originally developed by sun Microsystems. The flaw occurs when the media player attempts to parse malformed .au files that contain invalid header information leading to a divide-by-zero error during the audio decoding process. This type of error represents a classic programming vulnerability where the application fails to properly validate mathematical operations before execution, resulting in an unhandled exception that causes the application to terminate unexpectedly.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability demonstrates a fundamental lack of error handling within the Media Player Classic codebase. When the application encounters a malformed .au file, it attempts to perform a division operation using data extracted from the file header without proper validation of the divisor value. This scenario aligns with CWE-369, which describes the weakness of divide-by-zero errors occurring in software applications. The vulnerability requires minimal user interaction to exploit, as an attacker only needs to convince a victim to open a specially crafted .au file through the media player interface. The divide-by-zero condition typically results in an application crash or segmentation fault, effectively rendering the media player unusable until manually restarted.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a significant risk to users who may encounter maliciously crafted audio files in various contexts including email attachments, instant messaging files, or web downloads. The impact extends beyond simple application instability as it can be leveraged as a vector for more sophisticated attacks. Attackers can potentially combine this denial of service vulnerability with other exploit techniques to create more comprehensive attack chains. The vulnerability also highlights the broader issue of insufficient input sanitization in multimedia applications, which are frequently targeted due to their complex parsing requirements and the wide variety of file formats they must support. This weakness can be mapped to several ATT&CK tactics including initial access through malicious file delivery and privilege escalation via application compromise.
The mitigation strategies for this vulnerability primarily involve immediate software updates and patches from the vendor, as well as implementing defensive measures such as input validation at multiple layers of the application stack. Users should ensure their Media Player Classic installations are updated to version 1.1 or later, which includes proper input validation for .au file headers. Network administrators can implement file type filtering and sandboxing techniques to prevent automatic execution of potentially malicious audio files. Additionally, implementing proper error handling mechanisms that catch and gracefully manage divide-by-zero conditions would prevent the application from crashing. Organizations should also consider deploying network-based intrusion detection systems that can identify and block malicious file transfers containing known exploit patterns. The vulnerability serves as a reminder of the critical importance of input validation and proper error handling in multimedia applications, particularly those that process untrusted data from external sources, as these applications often serve as attack vectors for more sophisticated compromise techniques.