CVE-2009-3948 in Cowon Media Center-jetaudio
Summary
by MITRE
JetAudio 7.5.3 COWON Media Center allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption and application crash) via a long string at the end of a .wav file.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/03/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2009-3948 affects JetAudio 7.5.3 COWON Media Center software, presenting a significant denial of service risk that can be exploited remotely by attackers. This flaw specifically targets the media processing component of the application when handling malformed .wav audio files, creating a scenario where malicious actors can consume excessive system resources and trigger application instability. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the audio file parsing mechanism, where the software fails to properly handle extended string data appended to the end of .wav file structures.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability resides in the software's failure to implement proper bounds checking during .wav file processing. When a .wav file containing an excessively long string at its termination is processed by JetAudio, the application attempts to parse and store this extended data without adequate memory allocation or length validation. This results in uncontrolled memory growth as the software continues to allocate resources to accommodate the malformed data, eventually exhausting available system memory and causing the application to crash. The flaw represents a classic buffer over-read condition that can be amplified through crafted input manipulation, making it particularly dangerous in remote exploitation scenarios.
Operationally, this vulnerability creates substantial risk for users who may encounter maliciously crafted .wav files through various attack vectors including email attachments, web downloads, or file sharing platforms. The denial of service impact extends beyond simple application instability to potentially affect system performance and availability, as the memory consumption pattern can overwhelm system resources and prevent other applications from functioning properly. Attackers can leverage this weakness to disrupt media playback services or create persistent availability issues for systems running vulnerable versions of JetAudio. The remote nature of the exploit means that users do not need physical access to the target system to execute the attack, making it particularly concerning for networked environments.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate software updates and patches provided by the vendor, as well as implementing network-based controls to filter potentially malicious audio files. Organizations should establish robust input validation procedures for media file handling and consider deploying sandboxing mechanisms to isolate media processing components. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-129, which addresses improper validation of length of input data, and relates to ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks. System administrators should also implement monitoring solutions to detect unusual memory consumption patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts, while maintaining updated threat intelligence feeds to identify potential malicious .wav files targeting this specific flaw.