CVE-2011-2162 in MPlayer
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple unspecified vulnerabilities in FFmpeg 0.4.x through 0.6.x, as used in MPlayer 1.0 and other products, in Mandriva Linux 2009.0, 2010.0, and 2010.1; Corporate Server 4.0 (aka CS4.0); and Mandriva Enterprise Server 5 (aka MES5) have unknown impact and attack vectors, related to issues "originally discovered by Google Chrome developers."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/09/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-2162 represents a collection of undisclosed security flaws within FFmpeg versions 0.4.x through 0.6.x that were integrated into various multimedia applications and operating systems including MPlayer 1.0 and multiple Mandriva Linux distributions. These vulnerabilities were originally discovered by Google Chrome developers, indicating their potential severity and the sophisticated nature of the security research community's awareness of these issues. The unspecified nature of the vulnerabilities suggests that they may encompass multiple distinct flaw types rather than a single vulnerability, potentially including buffer overflows, memory corruption issues, or other code execution vulnerabilities that could be exploited through multimedia file processing.
The technical implementation of these vulnerabilities stems from FFmpeg's role as a comprehensive multimedia framework that handles various audio and video codecs, container formats, and streaming protocols. As a core component in many media processing applications, FFmpeg's codebase is exposed to numerous attack surfaces when processing untrusted multimedia content. The fact that these issues were discovered by Google Chrome developers indicates that they likely involve multimedia parsing components that could be triggered through web-based media content or file format handling, potentially allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code on systems running affected versions of the software.
The operational impact of these vulnerabilities across the affected systems is significant given the widespread adoption of FFmpeg in multimedia applications and the targeted operating systems. Mandriva Linux 2009.0, 2010.0, and 2010.1, along with Corporate Server 4.0 and Mandriva Enterprise Server 5, represent substantial portions of enterprise and desktop computing environments that would be vulnerable to exploitation. The attack vectors remain unspecified, but they likely involve maliciously crafted multimedia files that, when processed by applications utilizing vulnerable FFmpeg versions, could trigger memory corruption or code execution. This vulnerability classification aligns with CWE-119, which addresses weaknesses in memory handling that can lead to buffer overflows and arbitrary code execution, and potentially maps to ATT&CK techniques involving execution through multimedia processing.
The security implications extend beyond individual system compromise to potential network-based attacks, as multimedia content can be delivered through various channels including web browsers, email attachments, or file sharing systems. Applications that utilize FFmpeg for media processing, including MPlayer and other multimedia frameworks, would be at risk when handling untrusted content. The lack of specific details about the vulnerability types suggests that multiple attack vectors may exist, potentially including heap-based buffer overflows, stack corruption, or integer overflows within the multimedia processing code. These vulnerabilities represent a critical concern for enterprise security teams, as they could enable remote code execution and privilege escalation through media processing components that are commonly enabled in user applications. Organizations running affected versions of Mandriva Linux or applications containing vulnerable FFmpeg versions should implement immediate mitigation strategies including system updates, application sandboxing, and network-based restrictions on multimedia file processing.
The vulnerability's discovery by Google Chrome developers underscores the importance of collaborative security research and the interconnected nature of modern software ecosystems. Multimedia processing libraries like FFmpeg serve as foundational components for numerous applications, making vulnerabilities in such software particularly dangerous. The unspecified nature of the impact and attack vectors highlights the need for comprehensive security testing and vulnerability management processes that can identify and remediate issues across complex software dependencies. Security professionals should consider these vulnerabilities as part of broader media processing security frameworks and implement monitoring for exploitation attempts targeting multimedia handling components. The vulnerability also emphasizes the importance of keeping multimedia libraries updated, as FFmpeg 0.4.x through 0.6.x versions were relatively old when these issues were discovered, indicating that outdated multimedia components represent ongoing security risks for organizations that fail to maintain current software versions.