CVE-2023-6879 – This vulnerability is a heap overflow in the AV... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-6879?

CVE-2023-6879 has a CVSS score of 9.0 (CRITICAL). This vulnerability is a heap overflow in the AV1 video codec library (libaom) that occurs when increasing video frame resolution during multi-threaded encoding. Attackers could exploit this to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service. Systems using vulnerable versions of libaom for video processing are affected.

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability is a heap overflow in the AV1 video codec library (libaom) that occurs when increasing video frame resolution during multi-threaded encoding. Attackers could exploit this to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service. Systems using vulnerable versions of libaom for video processing are affected.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

libaom (AV1 video codec library)
Applications using libaom for AV1 encoding

Versions: Versions before 3.7.1

Operating Systems: Linux, Windows, macOS, Other Unix-like systems

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Affects systems using multi-threaded AV1 encoding with resolution changes. Web browsers, media players, and video editing software may be vulnerable if using affected libaom versions.

📦 What is this software?

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise, data theft, or ransomware deployment.

🟠

Likely Case

Application crash or denial of service affecting video processing functionality.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact with proper memory protections (ASLR, DEP) and sandboxing.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - Video processing services exposed to the internet could be directly targeted.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Internal applications using video processing could be exploited via malicious content.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires triggering specific video encoding conditions. No public exploit code is known at this time.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 3.7.1

Vendor Advisory: https://aomedia.googlesource.com/aom/+/refs/tags/v3.7.1

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Update libaom to version 3.7.1 or later. 2. For Linux distributions, use package manager: 'sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade libaom' (Debian/Ubuntu) or 'sudo yum update libaom' (RHEL/CentOS). 3. Rebuild applications using libaom if statically linked. 4. Restart affected services.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable multi-threaded AV1 encoding

all

Configure applications to use single-threaded AV1 encoding to avoid triggering the vulnerability.

Application-specific configuration required

Disable AV1 codec support

all

Temporarily disable AV1 video processing in applications if not required.

Application-specific configuration required

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement strict input validation for video files
Run vulnerable applications in sandboxed/containerized environments

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check libaom version: 'aomenc --version' or 'dpkg -l | grep libaom' (Debian) or 'rpm -qa | grep libaom' (RHEL).

Check Version:

aomenc --version 2>/dev/null | head -1 || pkg-config --modversion aom

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm libaom version is 3.7.1 or later using version check commands.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Application crashes with segmentation faults in av1_loop_restoration_dealloc()
Memory corruption errors in application logs

Network Indicators:

Unusual video file uploads to processing services
Exploit attempts targeting video endpoints

SIEM Query:

Process crashes with module containing 'aom' or 'av1' in stack trace

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-6879

CVSS v3 Score: 9.0 (CRITICAL)

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

CWE: CWE-20

Published: December 27, 2023

Last Updated: February 13, 2025

🔗 References

https://aomedia.googlesource.com/aom/+/refs/tags/v3.7.1 Patch
https://crbug.com/aomedia/3491 Exploit,Issue Tracking,Mailing List,Patch,Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/AYONA2XSNFMXLAW4IHLFI5UVV3QRNG5K/ Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/D6C2HN4T2S6GYNTAUXLH45LQZHK7QPHP/ Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
https://aomedia.googlesource.com/aom/+/refs/tags/v3.7.1 Patch
https://crbug.com/aomedia/3491 Exploit,Issue Tracking,Mailing List,Patch,Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/AYONA2XSNFMXLAW4IHLFI5UVV3QRNG5K/ Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/D6C2HN4T2S6GYNTAUXLH45LQZHK7QPHP/ Mailing List,Third Party Advisory

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