CVE-2023-47053 in Audition
Summary
by MITRE • 11/16/2023
Adobe Audition version 24.0 (and earlier) and 23.6.1 (and earlier) are affected by an Access of Uninitialized Pointer vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to bypass mitigations such as ASLR. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/12/2023
Adobe Audition contains a critical access of uninitialized pointer vulnerability that represents a significant security risk for users of affected versions. This flaw exists within the application's handling of malformed audio files and occurs when the software attempts to access memory locations that have not been properly initialized. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and memory management practices within the audio processing pipeline, where the application fails to properly verify the integrity of file headers or data structures before attempting to process them. The uninitialized pointer access creates a condition where the software may read from arbitrary memory locations, potentially exposing sensitive information stored in adjacent memory regions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it can be leveraged to bypass critical security mitigations such as address space layout randomization. When an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability, they can potentially extract memory addresses and other sensitive data that would normally be protected by ASLR, thereby undermining the effectiveness of this fundamental exploit protection mechanism. This makes subsequent exploitation attempts significantly easier as the attacker gains knowledge about the memory layout of the target system. The vulnerability requires user interaction to be exploited, meaning that victims must open a maliciously crafted audio file for the attack to succeed, but this requirement does not diminish the severity of the potential compromise.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability maps to CWE-476 which specifically addresses null pointer dereference conditions and related memory access issues. The flaw demonstrates poor defensive programming practices and highlights the importance of proper input sanitization and memory initialization before processing external data. The attack surface is primarily through file-based exploitation, making it consistent with ATT&CK technique T1203 for legitimate access and T1059 for command and control operations. Organizations using Adobe Audition should prioritize immediate patching to address this vulnerability, as the combination of information disclosure and ASLR bypass capabilities creates a dangerous threat vector. The vulnerability represents a classic example of how seemingly minor memory management issues can have significant security implications when combined with modern exploit techniques.
The remediation approach should focus on updating to patched versions of Adobe Audition where the uninitialized pointer access has been corrected through proper memory initialization and input validation. Security teams should also implement monitoring for suspicious file opening patterns and consider network-based detection rules targeting known malicious audio file signatures. Additionally, user education regarding the dangers of opening untrusted audio files remains crucial, as social engineering aspects of exploitation often play a role in successful attacks. The vulnerability underscores the necessity of maintaining current software versions and implementing robust application security practices throughout the development lifecycle to prevent similar issues from arising in future releases.