CVE-2012-0665 in QuickTime
Summary
by MITRE
Heap-based buffer overflow in Apple QuickTime before 7.7.2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (application crash) via a crafted movie file with H.264 encoding.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/24/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-0665 represents a critical heap-based buffer overflow flaw within Apple QuickTime media player software versions prior to 7.7.2. This vulnerability specifically affects the handling of H.264 encoded movie files, making it particularly dangerous in environments where users frequently encounter multimedia content from untrusted sources. The flaw resides in the parser responsible for processing H.264 video streams, which fails to properly validate input data length before copying it into fixed-size heap buffers. This oversight creates a condition where maliciously crafted movie files can overflow allocated memory regions and potentially overwrite adjacent memory structures, leading to unpredictable behavior and system compromise.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions where insufficient bounds checking allows attackers to write beyond allocated memory boundaries. The attack vector involves remote exploitation through specially crafted movie files that contain malformed H.264 encoding data. When QuickTime attempts to parse these malicious files, the buffer overflow can result in arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the user running the application. This represents a significant threat to user security since QuickTime was widely distributed and often automatically executed when users opened multimedia content, making the attack surface extensive and the exploitation risk high.
The operational impact of CVE-2012-0665 extends beyond simple application crashes to encompass full system compromise capabilities. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to execute malicious code remotely, potentially establishing persistent access to affected systems, stealing sensitive data, or deploying additional malware. The vulnerability's classification under the ATT&CK framework would place it within the privilege escalation and execution domains, specifically targeting the use of legitimate system resources for malicious purposes. Organizations running older versions of QuickTime faced substantial risk since the vulnerability could be exploited through various attack vectors including email attachments, web downloads, or malicious websites hosting compromised media files.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patch deployment to update QuickTime to version 7.7.2 or later, which contains the necessary memory validation fixes. System administrators should implement network monitoring to detect suspicious media file downloads and consider restricting user access to potentially malicious content sources. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date multimedia software and highlights the risks associated with legacy applications that may contain unpatched security flaws. Additional protective measures include implementing application whitelisting policies, disabling QuickTime auto-execution, and conducting regular security assessments to identify similar vulnerabilities in other media processing components that may pose similar risks to system security.