CVE-2010-1442 in VLC Media Player
Summary
by MITRE
VideoLAN VLC media player before 1.0.6 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (invalid memory access and application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted byte stream to the (1) AVI, (2) ASF, or (3) Matroska (aka MKV) demuxer.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/10/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2010-1442 represents a critical heap-based buffer overflow in VideoLAN VLC media player versions prior to 1.0.6. This flaw affects three major multimedia container formats including AVI, ASF, and Matroska (MKV) through their respective demuxer components. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and memory management within the media parsing routines that process these container formats. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious byte streams that trigger improper memory handling during media file parsing, leading to unpredictable behavior in the application's memory space.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves a classic buffer overflow condition where the demuxer processes malformed data without proper bounds checking. When VLC encounters specially crafted media files with manipulated headers or metadata, the parsing logic fails to validate the size parameters of various data structures, resulting in writes beyond allocated memory boundaries. This memory corruption can manifest as invalid memory access exceptions that cause application crashes or potentially allow for arbitrary code execution through controlled memory corruption. The vulnerability operates at the intersection of multimedia processing and memory safety, making it particularly dangerous in media player applications where users frequently process untrusted content from various sources.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for end users who may unknowingly encounter malicious media files in email attachments, web downloads, or peer-to-peer file sharing networks. The exploitability of this flaw extends beyond simple denial of service to potential remote code execution, making it a serious security concern for organizations and individuals. The affected demuxers handle common multimedia formats that are widely distributed across the internet, increasing the attack surface significantly. Security researchers have classified this vulnerability as high-risk due to its potential for remote exploitation and the widespread use of VLC media player across different operating systems and devices.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, Heap-based Buffer Overflow, and represents a clear violation of secure coding practices that should be implemented in multimedia processing libraries. From an attacker's perspective, this flaw maps to ATT&CK technique T1203, Exploitation for Client Execution, as it enables remote code execution through media file manipulation. The attack chain typically involves delivering a malicious media file to a victim who then opens it with the vulnerable VLC player, triggering the buffer overflow and potentially allowing the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the target system. Organizations should prioritize patching this vulnerability immediately, as the lack of input validation in media processing components creates a persistent security risk that can be exploited through multiple vectors including web-based attacks, email attachments, and file sharing platforms. The remediation process requires updating to VLC version 1.0.6 or later, which includes proper bounds checking and memory management fixes for the affected demuxers.