CVE-2022-35482 in OTFCC
Summary
by MITRE • 08/17/2022
OTFCC v0.10.4 was discovered to contain a segmentation violation via /release-x64/otfccdump+0x65f724.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/17/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-35482 affects OTFCC version 0.10.4 and represents a critical segmentation fault condition that occurs during the execution of the otfccdump utility. This flaw manifests within the /release-x64/otfccdump binary at the specific offset 0x65f724, indicating a memory access violation that can lead to application crash or potential exploitation. The issue stems from improper handling of memory operations within the font compilation toolchain, which processes OpenType Font files and converts them into various formats. The segmentation violation suggests that the application attempts to access memory locations that are either invalid or unauthorized, potentially allowing attackers to manipulate memory access patterns to achieve unintended behavior. Such vulnerabilities in font processing utilities are particularly concerning as they can be triggered through malicious font files that users might encounter when opening documents or browsing websites.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves a classic memory safety issue where the otfccdump utility fails to properly validate input data before attempting to process font structures. The segmentation fault occurs during the dump operation of OpenType Font files, which means that any user or application that invokes this utility with malformed or specially crafted font data could trigger the crash. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-125, which describes out-of-bounds read conditions, and may also relate to CWE-787, representing out-of-bounds write vulnerabilities. The attack surface expands when considering that font files are commonly encountered in various applications and operating systems, making this a potentially widespread issue. The specific offset 0x65f724 in the release-x64 binary suggests that the vulnerability exists in a compiled version of the code where memory layout and pointer calculations may have been optimized in ways that expose the underlying flaw. The fact that this occurs in a font processing tool indicates that the vulnerability could be exploited through various attack vectors including email attachments, web downloads, or document processing scenarios where font rendering is involved.
The operational impact of CVE-2022-35482 extends beyond simple application crashes, as segmentation faults in utility tools can potentially enable more sophisticated attacks depending on the execution environment and memory layout. When an application crashes due to a segmentation violation, it can provide attackers with opportunities to perform memory corruption attacks, especially if the tool is executed with elevated privileges or in environments where memory addresses are predictable. The vulnerability may also serve as a stepping stone for further exploitation, particularly in scenarios where the tool is used in automated processing pipelines or integrated into larger applications. This type of flaw falls under ATT&CK technique T1203, which covers exploitation for privilege escalation through the manipulation of memory structures. Additionally, the vulnerability could be leveraged in combination with other memory corruption issues to achieve remote code execution, especially if the tool is used in web-based environments or as part of automated content processing systems. Organizations that rely on font processing utilities for document preparation, web content rendering, or multimedia applications should consider this vulnerability as a potential entry point for attackers seeking to compromise their systems.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2022-35482 should focus on immediate remediation through software updates, as the vendor has likely released patched versions addressing the memory handling issues. System administrators should ensure that all instances of OTFCC v0.10.4 are upgraded to the latest stable release that contains the necessary memory safety fixes. In environments where immediate updates are not feasible, input validation measures should be implemented to filter font files before processing, particularly those from untrusted sources. The implementation of sandboxing techniques around font processing utilities can provide additional protection by isolating the execution environment and limiting potential damage from memory corruption. Memory protection mechanisms such as stack canaries, address space layout randomization, and data execution prevention should be enabled on systems running the affected software. Organizations should also implement monitoring solutions to detect unusual memory access patterns or segmentation fault occurrences that may indicate exploitation attempts. Regular security assessments of font processing pipelines and automated tools should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other components of the software stack. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper memory management in font processing utilities and underscores the need for comprehensive security testing of all input handling components in applications that process complex binary formats like OpenType fonts.