Vulnerabilities in Xine-Lib and Mplayer
Vulnerabilities have been discovered in two major media players for Linux. A Xine-Lib vulnerability also affects Mplayer.
The vulnerability in Mplayer was disclosed just recently; further information is available from the project hompage for the player. The vulnerabilities were discovered in part by Core Security. One of the vulnerabilities was inherited by Xine-Lib. Other applications based on Mplayer, or the Xine library may be affected. Security researchers classify both vulnerabilities in both projects as extremely critical.
The vulnerability, which affects both Mplayer and Xine-Library, can be exploited by injecting manipulated comments in loss-free FLAC compressed files (Free Lossless Audio Codec). The attacker can use this vector to provoke a stack overflow in the "demux_audio.c" file, and then run injected code with the player's UID.
Based on current findings, only Mplayer and projects based on it are affected by the bug. Attackers can use some IPv6 URLs to provoke a buffer overflow in the "stream/url.c" file's "url_escape_string" function. An array indexing error in "demux_mov.c" can also provoke a buffer overflow on parsing MOV files. Additionally, a buffer overflow can occur on evaluating CDDB files.
The vulnerabilities affect Xine-Lib up to version 1.1.10 and Mplayer up to version 1.0rc2. The Mplayer team has released patches to remedy the situation. Distributors are likely to follow suit with updated packages in the next few days.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Canonical Releases Ubuntu 24.04
After a brief pause because of the XZ vulnerability, Ubuntu 24.04 is now available for install.
-
Linux Servers Targeted by Akira Ransomware
A group of bad actors who have already extorted $42 million have their sights set on the Linux platform.
-
TUXEDO Computers Unveils Linux Laptop Featuring AMD Ryzen CPU
This latest release is the first laptop to include the new CPU from Ryzen and Linux preinstalled.
-
XZ Gets the All-Clear
The back door xz vulnerability has been officially reverted for Fedora 40 and versions 38 and 39 were never affected.
-
Canonical Collaborates with Qualcomm on New Venture
This new joint effort is geared toward bringing Ubuntu and Ubuntu Core to Qualcomm-powered devices.
-
Kodi 21.0 Open-Source Entertainment Hub Released
After a year of development, the award-winning Kodi cross-platform, media center software is now available with many new additions and improvements.
-
Linux Usage Increases in Two Key Areas
If market share is your thing, you'll be happy to know that Linux is on the rise in two areas that, if they keep climbing, could have serious meaning for Linux's future.
-
Vulnerability Discovered in xz Libraries
An urgent alert for Fedora 40 has been posted and users should pay attention.
-
Canonical Bumps LTS Support to 12 years
If you're worried that your Ubuntu LTS release won't be supported long enough to last, Canonical has a surprise for you in the form of 12 years of security coverage.
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.