CVE-2022-35486 in OTFCC
Summary
by MITRE • 08/17/2022
OTFCC v0.10.4 was discovered to contain a segmentation violation via /release-x64/otfccdump+0x6badae.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/17/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-35486 affects OTFCC version 0.10.4 and represents a critical segmentation fault condition that occurs during the execution of the otfccdump utility. This issue manifests specifically within the /release-x64/otfccdump binary at offset +0x6badae, indicating a memory access violation that can lead to application termination and potential system instability. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of input data structures during the dump processing phase, where the application fails to validate memory boundaries before accessing allocated resources. This segmentation violation represents a classic example of a buffer over-read or memory corruption vulnerability that can be exploited to cause denial of service conditions or potentially enable more sophisticated attack vectors if the application is deployed in environments where malicious input can be injected.
The technical flaw in OTFCC v0.10.4 demonstrates a fundamental lack of input validation and memory management controls within the application's processing pipeline. When the otfccdump utility processes certain font format files, it attempts to access memory regions that have not been properly validated or allocated, resulting in a segmentation fault that terminates the process. This behavior aligns with CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read and CWE-787: Out-of-bounds Write vulnerabilities, both of which fall under the broader category of memory safety issues that have been extensively documented in software security literature. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it occurs in a utility designed for font processing, suggesting that attackers could potentially craft malicious font files that trigger this condition when processed by the application. The specific memory access pattern at offset +0x6badae indicates that the application is likely attempting to read or write beyond allocated buffer boundaries, which violates fundamental memory safety principles and can result in unpredictable behavior.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risks for systems that rely on OTFCC for font processing tasks, particularly in server environments or applications that process untrusted font content from external sources. The segmentation fault can result in service disruption and denial of service conditions, potentially affecting applications that depend on proper font rendering capabilities. Organizations using OTFCC in production environments may experience unexpected application crashes, particularly when processing font files from unknown or untrusted sources, leading to operational downtime and potential data processing failures. The vulnerability also presents risks in automated processing environments where font files are routinely processed without human intervention, as the segmentation fault could cause cascading failures throughout dependent systems. Additionally, this type of memory corruption vulnerability could potentially be leveraged in combination with other techniques to achieve more sophisticated exploitation goals, especially if the application is deployed in contexts where additional attack surface is present.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2022-35486 should prioritize immediate remediation through version updates to OTFCC v0.10.5 or later, which contains patches addressing the memory handling issues. Organizations should also implement input validation controls that filter or sanitize font files before processing, particularly in environments where untrusted content is processed. The implementation of memory safety controls such as address sanitizer or stack canaries can help detect similar issues in other components of the system. Network segmentation and access controls should be enforced to limit exposure of vulnerable applications to untrusted input sources. System administrators should monitor for signs of exploitation attempts and maintain detailed logs of font processing activities to detect potential abuse of this vulnerability. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under T1499.004: Endpoint Denial of Service, as it enables adversaries to cause service disruption through memory corruption techniques. Organizations should also consider implementing application whitelisting controls that restrict execution of vulnerable binaries to trusted environments and maintain regular security assessments to identify similar memory safety issues in other software components.