CVE-2019-20171 in GPAC
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in GPAC version 0.8.0 and 0.9.0-development-20191109. There are memory leaks in metx_New in isomedia/box_code_base.c and abst_Read in isomedia/box_code_adobe.c.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/05/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-20171 represents a critical memory management flaw within the GPAC multimedia framework, specifically affecting versions 0.8.0 and 0.9.0-development-20191109. This issue manifests through memory leaks occurring in two distinct functions within the isomedia module of the software. The primary locations of concern are metx_New function within isomedia/box_code_base.c and abst_Read function within isomedia/box_code_adobe.c, both of which handle multimedia container format processing. These memory leaks represent a fundamental failure in resource management that can lead to progressive memory consumption over time, ultimately degrading system performance and potentially causing application crashes or system instability.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper memory deallocation within the multimedia parsing routines of GPAC's isomedia library. When processing multimedia files containing specific metadata structures, the metx_New and abst_Read functions fail to properly release allocated memory blocks, creating persistent memory leaks that accumulate during extended usage or repeated file processing operations. This memory leakage pattern directly corresponds to CWE-401, which categorizes improper memory management as a common software weakness leading to resource exhaustion vulnerabilities. The flaw operates at the intersection of memory management and multimedia format parsing, where the software fails to maintain proper resource accounting during the processing of structured metadata within isomedia container formats.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple performance degradation to potentially compromise system stability and availability. Memory leaks in multimedia processing libraries can accumulate over time, especially in applications that process numerous media files or maintain long-running processes. When multiple instances of these functions are called during normal operation, each memory leak contributes to the overall memory footprint, eventually leading to system resource exhaustion. This vulnerability affects systems that rely on GPAC for multimedia processing, including content management systems, media servers, and applications that utilize the framework for video and audio file handling. The cumulative effect of these leaks can result in application crashes, system slowdowns, or complete system unresponsiveness, particularly in resource-constrained environments where memory management is critical.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2019-20171 should prioritize immediate software updates to patched versions of GPAC that address the memory management issues in both metx_New and abst_Read functions. Organizations utilizing affected GPAC versions should implement monitoring systems to track memory consumption patterns and establish alerting mechanisms for unusual memory usage increases that may indicate leak accumulation. Additionally, system administrators should consider implementing process restart procedures for applications that rely heavily on GPAC to prevent memory leak accumulation from reaching critical levels. From a security perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1490, which covers resource exhaustion attacks through memory leaks and other resource management flaws. The remediation approach should include comprehensive testing of updated software versions to ensure that the memory leak fixes are properly implemented and that no regressions have been introduced in the multimedia processing capabilities of the framework.