CVE-2017-18307 in Snapdragon Mobile
Summary
by MITRE • 11/26/2024
Information disclosure possible while audio playback.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/05/2026
This vulnerability represents a critical information disclosure weakness that occurs during audio playback operations within software applications. The flaw allows unauthorized access to sensitive data through the audio processing pipeline, potentially exposing confidential information that should remain protected. Such vulnerabilities typically arise from improper handling of audio buffers, memory management issues, or insecure data flow mechanisms during media processing. The technical implementation often involves scenarios where audio data streams contain embedded metadata, configuration parameters, or other sensitive content that gets inadvertently exposed through playback functions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends across multiple security domains including privacy protection, data confidentiality, and system integrity. Attackers can exploit this weakness to extract information such as user credentials, system configurations, network details, or proprietary data that may be encoded within audio streams or processed during playback operations. This type of information disclosure directly violates fundamental security principles and can lead to cascading effects where compromised audio processing components serve as entry points for broader system exploitation. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-200 which addresses "Information Exposure" and represents a classic example of how multimedia processing functions can introduce security gaps in application architectures.
From an attack perspective, this vulnerability fits within the ATT&CK framework under T1566 "Phishing" and T1005 "Data from Local System" categories where adversaries leverage media processing capabilities to extract sensitive information. The exploitation typically requires minimal privileges and can be automated through various attack vectors including malicious audio files, compromised streaming services, or manipulated playback environments. Security professionals must consider that audio playback is often considered a low-risk operation by users and security teams, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous as it operates in the background without user awareness.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing robust input validation for all audio data streams, proper memory management during playback operations, and comprehensive access controls for audio processing functions. Organizations must establish secure coding practices that prevent sensitive information from being embedded within audio content or inadvertently exposed through playback mechanisms. Regular security testing including penetration testing of media processing components, implementation of proper sandboxing for audio handling, and deployment of network monitoring solutions to detect unusual audio data flows represent essential defensive measures. Additionally, maintaining up-to-date audio processing libraries and frameworks helps reduce the attack surface by addressing known vulnerabilities in multimedia components that may contribute to information disclosure risks during playback operations.