CVE-2019-9964 in XnView
Summary
by MITRE
XnView MP 0.93.1 on Windows allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted file, related to ntdll!RtlpNtMakeTemporaryKey.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/04/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-9964 affects XnView MP version 0.93.1 on Windows operating systems and represents a significant security flaw that can be exploited by remote attackers to disrupt system operations. This issue stems from improper handling of specially crafted files within the application's processing pipeline, specifically involving the ntdll!RtlpNtMakeTemporaryKey function which is part of the Windows NT kernel subsystem responsible for managing temporary registry keys during system operations. The flaw manifests when the application attempts to process maliciously constructed files that trigger unexpected behavior in the underlying Windows kernel functions.
The technical nature of this vulnerability places it within the realm of heap-based buffer overflows and memory corruption issues, which are commonly categorized under CWE-121 as "Stack-based Buffer Overflow" or more specifically CWE-787 as "Out-of-bounds Write" when the corruption affects memory regions outside intended boundaries. The exploitation occurs through the manipulation of file parsing routines that fail to properly validate input data before processing, leading to memory corruption that ultimately results in application instability. When attackers supply crafted files that contain malformed data structures or specially constructed headers, the application's file handling mechanisms become overwhelmed, causing the ntdll!RtlpNtMakeTemporaryKey function to encounter unexpected parameters or memory states that trigger system crashes or unpredictable behavior.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a substantial risk to organizations relying on XnView MP for image processing tasks, particularly in environments where the application might process untrusted files from external sources. The denial of service condition can be leveraged by attackers to disrupt legitimate user activities, potentially causing system downtime or requiring manual intervention to restore normal operations. The unspecified other impacts mentioned in the vulnerability description suggest that beyond simple application crashes, there may be potential for privilege escalation or information disclosure scenarios, though the exact scope remains unclear without additional research. The remote attack vector means that adversaries do not require physical access to systems and can exploit this vulnerability from any network location, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments.
Security mitigations for CVE-2019-9964 should prioritize immediate patching of affected XnView MP installations to the latest available version that contains fixes for this specific vulnerability. Organizations should implement strict file validation procedures and consider deploying sandboxing mechanisms when processing potentially malicious files. Network segmentation and access controls can help limit the potential impact of exploitation attempts, while regular security assessments should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other image processing applications. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this type of vulnerability under T1203 as "Exploitation for Client Execution" and potentially T1059 as "Command and Scripting Interpreter" when considering the broader exploitation chain that could leverage such flaws for more sophisticated attacks. System administrators should also monitor for unusual application crash patterns or registry key corruption that might indicate exploitation attempts, as these behaviors can serve as early warning indicators of active attacks targeting this vulnerability.