CVE-2021-0636 in Android
Summary
by MITRE • 10/06/2021
When extracting the incorrectly formatted avi file, the memory is damaged, the playback interface shows that the video cannot be played, and the log is found to be crashed. This problem may lead to hacker malicious code attacks, resulting in the loss of user rights.Product: Androidversion: Android-10Android ID: A-189392423
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/10/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2021-0636 represents a critical memory corruption issue within the Android media playback subsystem that manifests when processing malformed AVI video files. This vulnerability resides in the Android 10 operating system and is tracked under Android ID A-189392423, indicating its significance within the Android security framework. The flaw occurs during the extraction process of improperly formatted AVI files, where the system's memory management becomes compromised, leading to application crashes and complete playback failure. The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-125, which covers out-of-bounds read errors that can result in memory corruption. The memory damage caused by this vulnerability creates a potential attack surface where malicious actors could exploit the system's failure to properly validate file formats before processing.
The operational impact of CVE-2021-0636 extends beyond simple playback failures, as the memory corruption can potentially be leveraged by threat actors to execute arbitrary code within the context of the affected media processing application. When the system attempts to parse the malformed AVI file, the improper handling of memory allocation and deallocation leads to a crash that could be triggered remotely through maliciously crafted video content. This vulnerability particularly affects the Android media framework's ability to safely process multimedia files, creating opportunities for privilege escalation attacks that could result in unauthorized access to user data and system resources. The vulnerability's potential for remote code execution places it within the ATT&CK framework's technique T1059, which involves executing malicious code through system processes, and T1068, which covers the exploitation of local vulnerabilities for privilege escalation.
The security implications of this vulnerability are compounded by the fact that AVI files are widely used multimedia formats that can be easily distributed through various channels including email attachments, web downloads, and social media platforms. Attackers could craft specifically designed AVI files that trigger the memory corruption when opened by vulnerable Android devices, potentially allowing them to execute malicious payloads or gain elevated privileges. The crash behavior observed during playback indicates that the system's error handling mechanisms are insufficient to prevent the memory corruption from occurring, suggesting that the vulnerability may be exploitable through a use-after-free condition or similar memory management flaws. Organizations and users should be particularly concerned about this vulnerability as it represents a potential pathway for attackers to compromise Android devices through seemingly benign multimedia content, making it a significant concern for enterprise security and personal device protection strategies.