CVE-2012-2407 in RealPlayer
Summary
by MITRE
Buffer overflow in RealNetworks RealPlayer before 15.0.6.14, RealPlayer SP 1.0 through 1.1.5, and Mac RealPlayer before 12.0.1.1750 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted AAC file that is not properly handled during stream-data unpacking.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/13/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-2407 represents a critical buffer overflow flaw within RealNetworks RealPlayer software across multiple versions and platforms. This security weakness affects desktop versions including RealPlayer 15.0.6.14 and earlier, RealPlayer SP 1.0 through 1.1.5, as well as Mac RealPlayer versions prior to 12.0.1.1750. The flaw stems from improper handling of stream-data unpacking processes when processing specially crafted Advanced Audio Coding AAC files, creating a potential attack vector for remote threat actors.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves a classic buffer overflow condition during the parsing of media stream data within the RealPlayer media handling engine. When the software encounters a maliciously crafted AAC file, the unpacking routine fails to properly validate input boundaries, allowing an attacker to overflow allocated memory buffers. This condition manifests through insufficient bounds checking during the decompression and processing of audio stream data, which is a common pattern seen in multimedia player vulnerabilities. The flaw operates at the application layer and requires no special privileges to exploit, making it particularly dangerous for widespread deployment.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service conditions to potentially enable more severe consequences including arbitrary code execution and system compromise. Attackers can leverage this weakness to cause unexpected application crashes, leading to denial of service for legitimate users, or potentially execute malicious code within the context of the target system. The vulnerability affects users across different operating systems including windows and macos platforms, demonstrating the widespread nature of the flaw. According to the attack pattern taxonomy, this represents a remote code execution vulnerability that aligns with attack techniques categorized under the execution and privilege escalation domains of the mitre attack framework.
The security implications of CVE-2012-2407 align with common weakness enumeration CWE-121, which describes unsafe array indexing conditions that can lead to buffer overflow scenarios. The vulnerability demonstrates how multimedia processing libraries can become attack surfaces when proper input validation and memory management practices are not implemented. Organizations using affected RealPlayer versions face significant risk exposure, particularly in enterprise environments where users may inadvertently download or receive malicious media files through email attachments, web downloads, or file sharing networks. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that threat actors can target users without requiring physical access to systems, making it a particularly concerning weakness for widespread deployment.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability include immediate patching of affected RealPlayer versions to the latest secure releases, implementation of network-based restrictions on media file downloads, and user education regarding safe media file handling practices. System administrators should consider network segmentation and content filtering to prevent automatic execution of potentially malicious media files. The fix typically involves implementing proper bounds checking during stream data unpacking operations and ensuring that all input data is validated before processing. Additionally, organizations should conduct vulnerability assessments to identify and remediate similar weaknesses in other multimedia applications and media handling components within their environments.