CVE-2013-1708 in Firefox
Summary
by MITRE
Mozilla Firefox before 23.0 and SeaMonkey before 2.20 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a crafted WAV file that is not properly handled by the nsCString::CharAt function.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/21/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-1708 represents a critical denial of service flaw affecting Mozilla Firefox versions prior to 23.0 and SeaMonkey versions prior to 2.20. This issue stems from improper handling of crafted WAV audio files within the browser's nsCString::CharAt function, which serves as a fundamental string manipulation component in the application's codebase. The flaw specifically manifests when the browser encounters malformed audio data that triggers unexpected behavior in the character access method, leading to application instability and potential crashes.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the insufficient input validation and error handling mechanisms within the nsCString::CharAt function, which is part of the Mozilla Foundation's string handling infrastructure. When processing specially crafted WAV files, the function fails to properly validate the boundaries of character access operations, resulting in memory access violations that cause the browser application to terminate unexpectedly. This behavior aligns with CWE-125, which describes out-of-bounds read vulnerabilities, and CWE-248, which covers exposure of an uninitialized variable. The vulnerability operates at the intersection of multimedia processing and memory management, where audio file parsing routines fail to properly handle edge cases in file format interpretation.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a significant risk to users who may encounter maliciously crafted WAV files through various attack vectors including web browsing, email attachments, or malicious websites. The remote exploitation capability means that attackers can trigger the denial of service condition without requiring local system access or user interaction beyond visiting a compromised webpage. This type of vulnerability directly impacts the availability and reliability of the browser application, potentially disrupting user productivity and creating opportunities for more sophisticated attacks that could exploit the crash conditions for further exploitation. The vulnerability's classification under the ATT&CK framework would align with T1499.004, which covers network denial of service, and T1059.007, which involves command and scripting interpreter usage for exploitation.
The mitigation strategy for this vulnerability requires immediate patching of affected browser versions to the recommended secure releases. Organizations should implement comprehensive patch management procedures to ensure all instances of Firefox and SeaMonkey are updated to versions 23.0 and 2.20 respectively. Additionally, network administrators should consider implementing content filtering measures that can detect and block suspicious WAV file content, particularly in enterprise environments where centralized security controls are in place. The vulnerability serves as a reminder of the importance of robust input validation and proper error handling in multimedia processing components, particularly when dealing with user-controllable data formats that may contain unexpected or malformed content. Security teams should also monitor for similar vulnerabilities in other media processing libraries and ensure that all applications maintain proper bounds checking and memory management practices to prevent similar issues from occurring in the future.