ZDI-10-006: RealNetworks RealPlayer GIF Handling Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

ZDI-10-006: RealNetworks RealPlayer GIF Handling Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-10-006
January 21, 2010

– CVE ID:
CVE-2009-4242

– Affected Vendors:
RealNetworks

– Affected Products:
RealNetworks RealPlayer

– TippingPoint(TM) IPS Customer Protection:
TippingPoint IPS customers have been protected against this
vulnerability by Digital Vaccine protection filter ID 0.
For further product information on the TippingPoint IPS, visit:

http://www.tippingpoint.com

– Vulnerability Details:
This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute code on vulnerable
installations of RealNetworks RealPlayer. User interaction is required
in that a user must open a malicious file or visit a malicious web
site.

The specific flaw exists during the parsing of GIF files with forged
chunk sizes. The player uses values from the file improperly when
allocating a buffer on the heap. An attacker can abuse this to create
and then overflow heap buffers leading to arbitrary code execution in
the context of the currently logged in user.

– Vendor Response:
RealNetworks has issued an update to correct this vulnerability. More
details can be found at:

http://service.real.com/realplayer/security/01192010_player/en/

– Disclosure Timeline:
2007-12-11 - Vulnerability reported to vendor
2010-01-21 - Coordinated public release of advisory

– Credit:
This vulnerability was discovered by:
* Anonymous

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