CVE-2015-1273 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE
Heap-based buffer overflow in j2k.c in OpenJPEG before r3002, as used in PDFium in Google Chrome before 44.0.2403.89, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via invalid JPEG2000 data in a PDF document.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/03/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-1273 represents a critical heap-based buffer overflow flaw within the OpenJPEG library's j2k.c component, specifically affecting versions prior to r3002. This issue manifests when processing JPEG2000 encoded data within PDF documents, creating a significant security risk for systems utilizing PDFium as the PDF rendering engine in Google Chrome browsers. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and memory management practices during the parsing of malformed JPEG2000 data structures, which can lead to unpredictable memory corruption patterns.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of JPEG2000 data embedded within PDF files, where the flawed memory allocation and boundary checking mechanisms in the j2k.c file fail to properly validate the size and structure of incoming data streams. When a maliciously crafted PDF document containing invalid JPEG2000 data is processed by Chrome's PDFium engine, the buffer overflow can occur during the decompression or parsing operations, potentially leading to memory corruption that may result in application crashes or more severe consequences. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-121 heap-based buffer overflow category, which specifically addresses issues where data is written beyond the allocated buffer boundaries in heap memory, creating opportunities for arbitrary code execution or system instability.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-1273 extends beyond simple denial of service scenarios, as the vulnerability presents potential for more serious security implications including remote code execution and system compromise. Attackers can leverage this weakness by crafting malicious PDF documents that, when opened in affected versions of Chrome, trigger the buffer overflow condition. The vulnerability's exploitation requires no special privileges and can be executed through web-based attacks, making it particularly dangerous in environments where users frequently access untrusted PDF content. According to ATT&CK framework categorization, this vulnerability maps to T1203 (Exploitation for Client Execution) and T1059 (Command and Scripting Interpreter) techniques, as it enables attackers to execute malicious code through compromised client applications.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2015-1273 primarily involve immediate patching of affected systems and updating to versions of OpenJPEG that contain the necessary memory safety improvements. Google Chrome users should upgrade to version 44.0.2403.89 or later, which incorporates the patched PDFium library. Organizations should implement network-based security controls including web application firewalls and content filtering systems to prevent access to potentially malicious PDF documents. Additionally, security administrators should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all systems utilizing affected versions of the OpenJPEG library and ensure proper patch management procedures are in place. The vulnerability highlights the importance of robust input validation and memory safety practices in multimedia processing libraries, particularly those handling complex image formats like JPEG2000 that require extensive memory management and parsing operations.