CVE-2008-5248 in xine-lib
Summary
by MITRE
xine-lib before 1.1.15 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via "MP3 files with metadata consisting only of separators."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/26/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-5248 affects xine-lib versions prior to 1.1.15 and represents a denial of service condition that can be triggered through manipulation of MP3 file metadata. This flaw specifically targets the media library's handling of audio file parsing routines where the software fails to properly validate metadata structures during file processing. The vulnerability arises when MP3 files contain metadata that consists exclusively of separator characters without any meaningful content, creating an edge case that the parser cannot handle gracefully. This type of input manipulation falls under the category of malformed input handling failures that are commonly exploited in multimedia processing applications due to the complex nature of audio format parsing.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability demonstrates a classic buffer overread or parsing error condition where xine-lib's MP3 metadata parser attempts to process separator-only metadata without proper boundary checking or validation. When the parser encounters such malformed metadata, it fails to properly terminate parsing operations or handle empty metadata segments, leading to memory corruption or stack manipulation that results in application crash. This behavior aligns with CWE-129, which describes improper validation of length of input buffers, and CWE-125, which covers out-of-bounds read conditions. The flaw represents a failure in defensive programming practices where input validation is insufficient to handle edge cases in file format parsing, particularly in the context of audio metadata processing where separators are commonly used to delimit fields.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption as it can be exploited in remote attack scenarios where an attacker can craft malicious MP3 files designed to crash media players or streaming applications that utilize xine-lib. This makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in environments where users might encounter untrusted media content, such as web browsers, media centers, or streaming services that rely on xine-lib for audio playback. The vulnerability can be leveraged in various attack vectors including web-based exploitation where users browse to malicious websites hosting crafted MP3 files, or through email attachments that trigger media player execution. From an attacker's perspective, this represents a low-effort, high-impact method for causing service disruption, which aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.100 for network denial of service attacks.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2008-5248 primarily focus on upgrading to xine-lib version 1.1.15 or later, which contains patched parsing routines that properly validate metadata structures and handle separator-only content without crashing. Organizations should implement comprehensive patch management processes to ensure all systems utilizing xine-lib are updated promptly. Additional defensive measures include implementing strict input validation at the application level, where MP3 metadata parsing routines can be hardened to detect and reject malformed or suspicious metadata structures before processing. Network-level defenses such as content filtering and sandboxing of media file handling can provide additional protection layers. Security monitoring should include detection of unusual application crash patterns or resource consumption spikes that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of thorough testing with edge cases in multimedia processing libraries, particularly focusing on metadata parsing routines that handle variable-length data structures with complex separator-based formatting.