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Zero-Day Vulnerability Discovered In FFmpeg Lets Attackers Steal Files Remotely

Posted by timothy on from the which-point-in-the-stack dept.

prisoninmate writes: A zero-day vulnerability in the FFmpeg open-source multimedia framework, which is currently used in numerous Linux kernel-based operating systems and software applications, also for the Mac OS X and Windows platforms, has been discovered recently by Russian programmer Maxim Andreev in the current stable builds of the software. It appears to let anyone with the necessary skills hack a computer to read local files on a remote machine and send them over the network using a specially crafted video file. Arch Linux devs already rebuilt their FFmpeg packages without the AppleHTTP and HLS demuxers.

5 of 72 comments (clear)

  1. Very wide impact. by Anonymous+Psychopath · · Score: 5, Informative

    Ffmpeg is used in some capacity in just about every video application I can think of. VLC, Kodi/XBMC, MythTV, Handbrake, Plex...

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    1. Re:Very wide impact. by dissy · · Score: 4, Informative

      I think I'm going to remove the package until a new, fixed version comes out, or at least detailed information on how to migrate the vulnerability until a fix comes along.

      The article suggests a mitigation, however it sounds like it may just be easier to remove the package until your upstream provides updates...

      James Darnley of FFmpeg suggests that disabling HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) while building the package should do the trick until a fix is committed.
      It is also possible to fix the issue by rebuilding the FFmpeg packages without network support, using the --disable-network configure flag, but that seems a bit too much.

      A commenter in the arch bug report listing also says:

      Btw, one could also do --disable-demuxer='hls,applehttp', but rebuilding without network support looks like a more robust solution for now (until the issue is inspected and fixed upstream).

      https://bugs.archlinux.org/tas...

      My understanding is the specific bug reported in russian is exploited via HLS, however it is unconfirmed if the same method could be used and exploited in other network stream demuxers yet.

    2. Re:Very wide impact. by fluffernutter · · Score: 4, Interesting

      But the question is, how easy is it to end up playing a 'specially crafted file' if you're playing video in VLC or Kodi? I mean, understood that any website could have an ad video that plays and opens up this connection but what is the reality of the risk for standalone players?

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      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    3. Re:Very wide impact. by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Any video file that you torrent could now open you up for risk. That means about 99% of Kodi users.

  2. WTF by edittard · · Score: 4, Funny

    Submitted by prisoninmate. Presumably he's in for crimes against the English language.

    He's certainly familiar with really long sentences.

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