CVE-2019-6132 in Bento4
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in Bento4 v1.5.1-627. There is a memory leak in AP4_DescriptorFactory::CreateDescriptorFromStream in Core/Ap4DescriptorFactory.cpp when called from the AP4_EsdsAtom class in Core/Ap4EsdsAtom.cpp, as demonstrated by mp42aac.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/26/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-6132 resides within the Bento4 multimedia framework version 1.5.1-627, specifically in the memory management subsystem that handles descriptor parsing for advanced video coding formats. This issue manifests as a memory leak occurring within the AP4_DescriptorFactory::CreateDescriptorFromStream function, which is invoked by the AP4_EsdsAtom class during the processing of mp42aac tool operations. The flaw represents a critical weakness in the software's resource handling capabilities, where allocated memory structures fail to be properly released after descriptor parsing operations, leading to progressive memory consumption over time.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from improper memory deallocation within the descriptor factory implementation, where the CreateDescriptorFromStream method fails to correctly manage memory references when processing Extended Stream Descriptor atoms. This memory leak occurs specifically when the system encounters certain malformed or complex descriptor structures within mp42aac files, causing the application to allocate memory for descriptor objects without subsequently freeing the associated memory blocks. The issue is particularly concerning as it can be triggered through normal file processing operations, making it exploitable in both automated and manual attack scenarios.
The operational impact of this memory leak vulnerability extends beyond simple resource consumption, potentially leading to system instability and denial of service conditions. When an attacker or legitimate user processes multiple mp42aac files through the affected Bento4 framework, the cumulative memory consumption can eventually exhaust available system resources, causing application crashes or system slowdowns. This vulnerability affects any system utilizing Bento4 v1.5.1-627 for processing mp42aac files, including multimedia processing servers, content management systems, and digital asset management platforms that rely on this framework for format conversion and analysis.
Security implications of CVE-2019-6132 align with CWE-401, which categorizes memory leaks as a common weakness in software systems, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for resource exhaustion attacks. The vulnerability demonstrates how seemingly benign file processing operations can be exploited to consume system resources, potentially enabling attackers to perform denial of service attacks against systems processing multimedia content. Organizations using affected Bento4 versions should prioritize patching and implementation of memory monitoring solutions to prevent exploitation. Mitigation strategies include immediate software updates to newer Bento4 versions that address this memory management issue, implementation of process memory limits, and regular monitoring of system resource consumption during multimedia processing operations. The vulnerability underscores the importance of proper memory management practices in multimedia frameworks and highlights the need for comprehensive testing of resource handling mechanisms in software libraries used for digital media processing.