CVE-2021-3522

Vulnerability

GStreamer before version 1.18.4 contains an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in the code that parses ID3v2 tags. This occurs when specially crafted ID3v2 tag data is processed, causing the parser to read beyond the allocated buffer boundaries. The affected products include gstreamer-plugins-base and related GStreamer packages. [1][2]

Exploitation

An attacker must supply a multimedia file or stream with a maliciously crafted ID3v2 tag. No additional authentication or special network position is required if the victim opens the file with any application that uses the vulnerable GStreamer version. The out-of-bounds read triggers during tag parsing without user interaction beyond file opening. [1]

Impact

Successful exploitation results in an out-of-bounds read, which can lead to information disclosure (memory contents) or a denial of service (crash). The CVSS v3 base score of 5.5 reflects a medium severity, indicating potential for significant impact on confidentiality and availability. [1]

Mitigation

The fix is included in GStreamer 1.18.4 and later releases. Users should upgrade to GStreamer 1.18.4 or later, and for Gentoo systems, to at least >=media-libs/gstreamer-1.20.2 and corresponding plugin packages [2]. No known workaround is available [2]. Red Hat has marked this CVE as WONTFIX for certain products. [1]