CVE-2015-7205 in Firefox
Summary
by MITRE
Integer underflow in the RTPReceiverVideo::ParseRtpPacket function in Mozilla Firefox before 43.0 and Firefox ESR 38.x before 38.5 might allow remote attackers to obtain sensitive information, cause a denial of service, or possibly have unspecified other impact by triggering a crafted WebRTC RTP packet.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/23/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-7205 represents a critical integer underflow condition within the WebRTC implementation of Mozilla Firefox browsers. This flaw exists specifically within the RTPReceiverVideo::ParseRtpPacket function, which processes real-time transport protocol packets used in WebRTC communications. The vulnerability affects Firefox versions prior to 43.0 and Firefox ESR 38.x versions prior to 38.5, making it a significant concern for organizations relying on these browser versions for real-time communication applications. The integer underflow occurs when processing crafted WebRTC RTP packets, creating a scenario where malicious actors can manipulate packet headers to trigger unexpected behavior in the underlying parsing logic.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper validation of packet header fields during RTP packet processing. When the RTP receiver encounters a specially crafted packet with manipulated sequence numbers or timestamp values, the integer underflow condition causes the parsing routine to behave unpredictably. This condition can lead to memory corruption issues where the application's memory management becomes compromised, potentially allowing attackers to read sensitive information from adjacent memory locations or cause the browser to crash entirely. The vulnerability falls under the CWE-191 category of Integer Underflow (Wrap or Wraparound) and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1203 for Exploitation for Client Execution. The parsing routine fails to properly validate the boundaries of integer operations, particularly when handling unsigned integer arithmetic that should prevent negative values from being processed.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service scenarios, as it potentially enables remote code execution or information disclosure attacks. Attackers can craft malicious WebRTC packets that, when processed by vulnerable Firefox installations, trigger the integer underflow condition and subsequently compromise the browser's memory space. This creates opportunities for attackers to extract sensitive data such as memory contents, credentials, or other confidential information stored in adjacent memory regions. The vulnerability's exploitation requires the victim to be actively engaged in a WebRTC session, making it particularly dangerous in environments where real-time communication is prevalent. Organizations using Firefox for video conferencing, VoIP services, or any WebRTC-based applications face significant risk from this flaw.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2015-7205 primarily focus on immediate browser updates to patched versions. Organizations should prioritize updating all Firefox installations to version 43.0 or later for regular releases, and Firefox ESR 38.5 or later for extended support releases. Security teams should implement network monitoring to detect and block suspicious WebRTC traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Additional protective measures include disabling WebRTC functionality in browsers when not required, implementing network segmentation to isolate WebRTC traffic, and conducting regular security assessments of WebRTC implementations. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of robust input validation in multimedia processing components and highlights the need for comprehensive security testing of real-time communication protocols. Organizations should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems specifically configured to identify malicious WebRTC packet patterns that could indicate exploitation of similar vulnerabilities.