CVE-2022-46449 in MPD
Summary
by MITRE • 01/11/2023
An issue in MPD (Music Player Daemon) v0.23.10 allows attackers to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) via a crafted input.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/09/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-46449 represents a critical denial of service weakness within the Music Player Daemon software version 0.23.10. This flaw specifically manifests when the system processes maliciously crafted input data, leading to unauthorized disruption of service availability for legitimate users. The MPD daemon serves as a networked audio server that handles music playback requests and manages media libraries across various client applications, making its stability essential for continuous audio service delivery.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in insufficient input validation mechanisms within the MPD daemon's processing pipeline. When the system encounters malformed or specially crafted input sequences, the daemon fails to properly handle these edge cases, resulting in unexpected program termination or resource exhaustion. This weakness operates at the protocol level where MPD processes client requests, particularly focusing on how it interprets and processes incoming commands and data streams. The flaw demonstrates characteristics consistent with CWE-129 Input Validation and Output Encoding, where inadequate sanitization of user-supplied data leads to system instability. The vulnerability can be exploited through network-based attacks where remote adversaries send malformed requests to the MPD service, causing it to crash or become unresponsive.
The operational impact of CVE-2022-46449 extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise entire audio infrastructure deployments. In enterprise or home network environments where MPD serves as a central audio management system, this vulnerability could lead to cascading failures affecting multiple connected devices and applications. The DoS condition affects availability as defined by the CIA triad, preventing legitimate users from accessing audio services while the daemon remains in a crashed or unstable state. Network administrators may experience significant service interruptions, particularly in environments where MPD operates as a core component of digital audio solutions. The vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 Network Denial of Service, where adversaries leverage protocol-level weaknesses to disrupt service availability. Organizations relying on MPD for continuous audio streaming, such as digital signage networks, home automation systems, or media centers, face potential business disruption and user experience degradation.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate software updates to versions that address the input validation shortcomings. System administrators must implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of vulnerable MPD instances to untrusted networks. Regular monitoring of daemon processes and automated alerting for service crashes can help detect exploitation attempts. Network-level firewalls should be configured to limit unnecessary communication with MPD ports and implement rate limiting to prevent abuse. Additionally, implementing intrusion detection systems capable of identifying malformed MPD protocol traffic can provide early warning of potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability underscores the importance of maintaining current software versions and implementing robust input validation practices as outlined in security standards such as NIST SP 800-160 and ISO/IEC 27001. Organizations should also consider implementing redundant audio services or failover mechanisms to maintain availability during potential exploitation events.