CVE-2015-5934 in Mac OS X
Summary
by MITRE
Audio in Apple OS X before 10.11.1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted audio file, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-5933.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/26/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-5934 represents a critical memory corruption flaw within the audio processing subsystem of Apple's macOS operating system. This issue affects versions prior to 10.11.1 and specifically targets the handling of crafted audio files that can be processed by the system's audio framework. The vulnerability arises from insufficient input validation and memory management within the audio decoding routines that process multimedia content. Attackers can exploit this weakness by preparing maliciously formatted audio files that, when processed by the operating system, trigger buffer overflows or other memory corruption conditions. These conditions can lead to arbitrary code execution within the context of the affected application or system services, potentially allowing full system compromise. The flaw demonstrates characteristics consistent with CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-122, which covers heap-based buffer overflow scenarios. From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risk to enterprise environments where users may encounter malicious audio files through various attack vectors including email attachments, web downloads, or removable media. The memory corruption can manifest as either arbitrary code execution or denial of service conditions, making it particularly dangerous as attackers can choose their preferred exploitation method. The vulnerability's remote exploitation capability means that adversaries do not need physical access to target systems, enabling widespread impact through network-based attacks. The flaw's relationship to CVE-2015-5933 highlights a pattern of audio processing vulnerabilities within the macOS ecosystem, suggesting potential architectural weaknesses in how the system handles multimedia file parsing. Organizations should consider implementing network-based intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious audio file handling activities and ensure timely patch deployment to mitigate this risk. The vulnerability's impact aligns with ATT&CK technique T1203, which covers exploitation for execution through malicious file handling, and T1499, which addresses network denial of service through system resource exhaustion. Security professionals should prioritize this vulnerability in their assessment protocols due to its potential for privilege escalation and system compromise, particularly in environments where users frequently process multimedia content from untrusted sources. The memory corruption aspects of this vulnerability make it particularly challenging to detect and prevent through traditional signature-based methods, requiring more advanced behavioral analysis and sandboxing approaches to provide adequate protection against exploitation attempts.