CVE-2022-43032 in Bento4
Summary
by MITRE • 10/19/2022
An issue was discovered in Bento4 v1.6.0-639. There is a memory leak in AP4_DescriptorFactory::CreateDescriptorFromStream in Core/Ap4DescriptorFactory.cpp, as demonstrated by mp42aac.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/08/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-43032 represents a critical memory management flaw within the Bento4 multimedia framework version 1.6.0-639. This issue manifests as a memory leak occurring in the AP4_DescriptorFactory::CreateDescriptorFromStream function located in the Core/Ap4DescriptorFactory.cpp source file. The vulnerability specifically impacts the mp42aac utility, which is part of the Bento4 suite designed for processing and manipulating multimedia files, particularly those in mp4 format. The memory leak vulnerability arises during the parsing and creation of descriptors from stream data, indicating a failure in proper memory deallocation mechanisms within the descriptor factory implementation.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when the AP4_DescriptorFactory attempts to parse and construct descriptor objects from incoming stream data. During this process, memory allocated for descriptor objects is not properly released or managed, leading to gradual memory consumption that can eventually result in system instability or resource exhaustion. This type of memory leak represents a classic software defect pattern that can be categorized under CWE-401, which specifically addresses improper management of dynamically allocated memory. The vulnerability demonstrates poor resource management practices where allocated memory blocks are either not freed at all or are freed at inappropriate times, creating a persistent memory consumption issue.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple resource consumption, potentially affecting the reliability and performance of systems utilizing Bento4 for multimedia processing. When the mp42aac utility processes malformed or specially crafted mp4 files, the memory leak can accumulate over time, particularly in applications that process multiple files or maintain long-running processes. This could lead to application crashes, system slowdowns, or even complete system resource exhaustion in severe cases. The vulnerability is particularly concerning in server environments or continuous processing applications where memory leaks can compound over time, making it a significant concern for security operations and system stability management.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2022-43032 should prioritize immediate patching of affected Bento4 installations to version 1.6.0-640 or later, which contains the necessary fixes for the memory leak issue. Organizations should implement monitoring solutions to detect unusual memory consumption patterns in applications utilizing Bento4 components, particularly those processing multimedia files. Additionally, input validation and sanitization measures should be strengthened to prevent exploitation through malformed mp4 files, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1203 for process injection and T1059 for command and scripting interpreter usage patterns. System administrators should also consider implementing memory leak detection tools and regular memory auditing procedures to identify and address similar vulnerabilities in other multimedia processing components. The fix typically involves proper memory deallocation within the descriptor factory's stream processing logic, ensuring that all allocated memory blocks are appropriately freed after descriptor creation, thereby preventing the accumulation of unused memory blocks that characterize this class of vulnerability.