Vulnerability Note VU#449092

AOL Nullsoft Winamp Lyrics3 heap buffer overflow

Original Release date: 26 Oct 2006 | Last revised: 08 Dec 2006

Overview

AOL Nullsoft Winamp contains a heap-based buffer overflow in the code that handles Lyrics3 tags. This vulnerability may allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable system.

Description

Lyrics3 is a system for embedding the lyrics inside an MP3 song file. AOL Nullsoft Winamp fails to properly handle malformed Lyrics3 tags, allowing a heap-based buffer overflow to occur.

This vulnerability may be triggered by persuading a user to access a specially crafted playlist file or connect to a malicious server with Winamp.

Impact

A remote, unauthenticated attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable system.

Solution

Upgrade
This vulnerability is addressed in AOL Nullsoft Winamp version 3.51.


Until it is possible to upgrade to AOL Nullsoft Winamp version 3.51, the following workarounds will help reduce the chances of exploitation:

Disable Winamp playlist file association

Disable the file association for Winamp playlist files to help prevent Windows applications from using Winamp to open playlists. This can be accomplished by deleting the following registry key:

    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Winamp.Playlist
Disable Shoutcast and Ultravox protocols

Links to malicious playlist files may be accessed using the Shoutcast (shout:) or Ultravox (uvox:) protocols. Disabling these protocols will reduce the chances of exploitation. This can be accomplished by deleting the following registry keys:

    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ICY
    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SC
    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SHOUT
    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\UVOX
Do not open Winamp playlist files

Do not open Winamp playlist files (.PLS or .M3U) from untrusted sources.

Systems Affected (Learn More)

VendorStatusDate NotifiedDate Updated
America Online, Inc.Affected-26 Oct 2006
If you are a vendor and your product is affected, let us know.

CVSS Metrics (Learn More)

Group Score Vector
Base N/A N/A
Temporal N/A N/A
Environmental N/A N/A

References

Credit

This vulnerability was reported by iDEFENSE.

This document was written by Jeff Gennari.

Other Information

  • CVE IDs: Unknown
  • Date Public: 25 Oct 2006
  • Date First Published: 26 Oct 2006
  • Date Last Updated: 08 Dec 2006
  • Severity Metric: 14.39
  • Document Revision: 25

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