CVE-2023-2840 – A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in GPA... (How to Fix)

📋 TL;DR

A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in GPAC multimedia framework allows attackers to cause denial of service (crash) or potentially execute arbitrary code by processing specially crafted media files. This affects all systems running GPAC versions prior to 2.2.2. Users who process untrusted media files with GPAC are particularly vulnerable.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

GPAC (GPAC Multimedia Open Source Project)

Versions: All versions prior to 2.2.2

Operating Systems: Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Any application using GPAC libraries or the gpac command-line tool is affected when processing media files.

📦 What is this software?

Gpac by Gpac

View all CVEs affecting Gpac →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise if the NULL pointer dereference can be leveraged for memory corruption attacks.

🟠

Likely Case

Application crash (denial of service) when processing malicious media files, potentially disrupting media processing services.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact with proper sandboxing and input validation, potentially just application crashes without privilege escalation.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - Media processing services exposed to the internet could be targeted with malicious files.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Internal users could exploit via malicious files, but requires user interaction or specific workflows.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ⚠️ Yes

Weaponized: LIKELY

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: LOW

Exploitation requires providing a malicious media file to the vulnerable application. The commit shows specific fixes for NULL pointer checks.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 2.2.2 and later

Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/gpac/gpac/commit/ba59206b3225f0e8e95a27eff41cb1c49ddf9a37

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Download GPAC 2.2.2 or later from https://github.com/gpac/gpac/releases
2. Compile and install according to platform instructions
3. Restart any services using GPAC libraries

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Input validation and sandboxing

all

Implement strict input validation for media files and run GPAC in sandboxed/containerized environments

Disable vulnerable components

all

If specific GPAC components are not needed, disable them via configuration

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement network segmentation to isolate GPAC services from critical systems
Deploy application allowlisting to prevent execution of unauthorized GPAC processes

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check GPAC version with 'gpac -version' or examine installed package version

Check Version:

gpac -version 2>&1 | head -1

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm version is 2.2.2 or later and test with known safe media files

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

GPAC process crashes
Segmentation fault errors in system logs
Abnormal termination of media processing services

Network Indicators:

Unusual media file uploads to services using GPAC
Repeated connection attempts to media processing endpoints

SIEM Query:

process_name:"gpac" AND (event_type:crash OR exit_code:139)

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-2840

CVSS v3 Score: 9.8 (CRITICAL)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWE: CWE-476

Published: May 22, 2023

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

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🔗 Related Vulnerabilities

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