Microsoft DirectX February 2006 RLE Compression Targa Files memory corruption

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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6.4$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Microsoft DirectX February 2006. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality of the component RLE Compression Handler. Such manipulation as part of Targa Files leads to memory corruption. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2006-4183. No exploit exists. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Microsoft DirectX February 2006. It has been rated as critical. Affected by this issue is some unknown processing of the component RLE Compression Handler. The manipulation as part of a Targa Files leads to a memory corruption vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-119. The product performs operations on a memory buffer, but it can read from or write to a memory location that is outside of the intended boundary of the buffer. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

Heap-based buffer overflow in Microsoft DirectX SDK (February 2006) and probably earlier, including 9.0c End User Runtimes, allows context-dependent attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Targa file with a run-length-encoding (RLE) compression that produces more data than expected when decoding.

The bug was discovered 07/18/2007. The weakness was disclosed 07/19/2007 by Ruben Santamarta with Reverse Mode (Website). The advisory is shared for download at reversemode.com. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2006-4183 since 08/16/2006. The attack may be launched remotely. No form of authentication is required for exploitation. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available.

It is declared as proof-of-concept. The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 90499 (Microsoft DirectX RLE Compressed Targa Image File Heap Overflow Overflow Vulnerability).

Upgrading eliminates this vulnerability. Applying a patch is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at microsoft.com. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version. Furthermore it is possible to detect and prevent this kind of attack with TippingPoint and the filter 11909.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at X-Force (35492), SecurityFocus (BID 24963†), OSVDB (36151†), Secunia (SA26131†) and SecurityTracker (ID 1018420†). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

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CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.3
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.4

VulDB Base Score: 7.3
VulDB Temp Score: 6.4
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

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VulDB Base Score: 🔍
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Exploitinginfo

Class: Memory corruption
CWE: CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Status: Proof-of-Concept

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

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Qualys ID: 🔍
Qualys Name: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
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Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Patch: microsoft.com
TippingPoint: 🔍

McAfee IPS: 🔍
McAfee IPS Version: 🔍

ISS Proventia IPS: 🔍
PaloAlto IPS: 🔍
Fortigate IPS: 🔍

Timelineinfo

08/16/2006 🔍
07/18/2007 +336 days 🔍
07/18/2007 +0 days 🔍
07/18/2007 +0 days 🔍
07/18/2007 +0 days 🔍
07/19/2007 +1 days 🔍
07/19/2007 +0 days 🔍
07/19/2007 +0 days 🔍
07/19/2007 +0 days 🔍
08/02/2007 +13 days 🔍
05/12/2009 +649 days 🔍
06/18/2025 +5881 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: microsoft.com

Advisory: reversemode.com
Researcher: Ruben Santamarta
Organization: Reverse Mode
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2006-4183 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2006-4183
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-3212
X-Force: 35492 - Microsoft DirectX Targa buffer overflow, High Risk
SecurityFocus: 24963 - Microsoft DirectX RLE Compressed Targa Image File Heap Overflow Overflow Vulnerability
Secunia: 26131 - Microsoft DirectX RLE Compressed Targa Image Processing Buffer Overflow, Highly Critical
OSVDB: 36151 - Microsoft DirectX RLE Compressed Targa Image Processing Overflow
SecurityTracker: 1018420
Vulnerability Center: 21989 - Microsoft DirectX <= February 2006 Crafted Targa File Remote Arbitrary Code Execution Vulnerability, Medium
Vupen: ADV-2007-2577

Entryinfo

Created: 08/02/2007 17:54
Updated: 06/18/2025 17:37
Changes: 08/02/2007 17:54 (90), 09/03/2019 11:36 (1), 06/18/2025 17:37 (18)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216:0CE:103

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

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