CVE-2024-46461
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2024-46461 is an integer overflow vulnerability in VLC media player that allows denial of service or arbitrary code execution when processing malicious mms streams. Attackers could crash VLC or execute code with the user's privileges. All users running VLC 3.0.20 or earlier are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- VLC media player
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution with the privileges of the user running VLC, potentially leading to full system compromise.
Likely Case
Application crash (denial of service) when processing malicious streams, disrupting media playback functionality.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if VLC runs with minimal privileges and network access is restricted.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction to open malicious mms stream, but no authentication is needed.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 3.0.21
Vendor Advisory: https://www.videolan.org/security/sb-vlc3021.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download VLC 3.0.21 or later from videolan.org. 2. Uninstall previous version. 3. Install new version. 4. Restart system if VLC was running during update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable mms protocol handling
allPrevent VLC from processing mms streams by disabling the protocol handler.
Not applicable - configure through VLC settings
Run with reduced privileges
linuxRun VLC with limited user privileges to reduce impact of potential code execution.
sudo -u restricted_user vlc
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Block mms protocol traffic at network perimeter
- Use application whitelisting to restrict VLC execution to trusted locations only
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check VLC version in Help > About (Windows/Linux) or VLC menu > About VLC (macOS). If version is 3.0.20 or earlier, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
vlc --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify VLC version is 3.0.21 or later after update.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- VLC crash logs
- Application error events mentioning VLC
Network Indicators:
- mms protocol traffic to VLC instances
- Unusual network connections from VLC process
SIEM Query:
Process:Name='vlc' AND EventID=1000 OR EventID=1001