CVE-2019-9349 in Android
Summary
by MITRE
In libstagefright, there is a possible resource exhaustion due to improper input validation. This could lead to remote denial of service with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is needed for exploitation. Product: AndroidVersions: Android-10Android ID: A-124330204
Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/12/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-9349 resides within the libstagefright media framework component of Android operating systems, specifically affecting Android 10 and earlier versions. This flaw represents a critical resource exhaustion issue that stems from inadequate input validation mechanisms within the multimedia processing pipeline. The libstagefright framework serves as the core media processing engine responsible for handling various multimedia formats including audio and video files, making it a prime target for exploitation due to its widespread usage across Android devices.
The technical nature of this vulnerability manifests when the system processes malformed or specially crafted media files that contain excessive or malformed data structures. The improper input validation allows attackers to craft media content that triggers abnormal memory consumption patterns within the stagefright framework. This occurs because the framework fails to properly validate the size and structure of incoming media data before processing, enabling malicious inputs to cause the system to allocate excessive memory resources or consume processing cycles in an uncontrolled manner. The vulnerability specifically affects the parsing and decoding components that handle multimedia container formats such as mp4, 3gp, and other supported media types.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a significant risk as it enables remote denial of service attacks without requiring any special privileges or execution rights from the attacker. The exploitation requires user interaction through the delivery of malicious media content, typically via email attachments, messaging applications, or web downloads, making it particularly dangerous in real-world scenarios. Once a user opens or plays the malicious media file, the resource exhaustion occurs silently in the background, potentially causing the device to freeze, crash, or become unresponsive. The impact extends beyond simple service disruption as the affected system components may become unstable, leading to complete device failure or requiring manual restart to restore normal operation.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-400, which specifically addresses "Uncontrolled Resource Consumption," and demonstrates characteristics consistent with the ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for "Endpoint Denial of Service" under the broader category of resource exhaustion attacks. This classification indicates that the attack vector operates at the endpoint level where the attacker targets device resources rather than network infrastructure, making it particularly challenging to detect and prevent through traditional network security measures. The exploitation pathway typically involves crafting media files with malformed metadata or excessive data structures that cause the system to allocate memory in a manner that exhausts available resources. Organizations and device manufacturers should implement immediate mitigations including firmware updates, media validation policies, and user education regarding suspicious media file attachments to prevent successful exploitation.
The broader implications of this vulnerability highlight the critical importance of input validation in multimedia processing frameworks and demonstrate how seemingly benign media handling operations can become attack vectors when proper resource management is absent. The vulnerability serves as a reminder of the complex security challenges inherent in multimedia frameworks that must balance performance, compatibility, and security considerations while maintaining robust input validation mechanisms. Device manufacturers and security teams should prioritize patch deployment and consider implementing additional runtime protections that monitor resource consumption patterns to detect and prevent similar vulnerabilities in other multimedia processing components.