CVE-2024-47606: GStreamer RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2024-47606 Overview

CVE-2024-47606 is an integer underflow vulnerability in GStreamer, a widely-used open-source multimedia framework for constructing graphs of media-handling components. The vulnerability exists in the qtdemux_parse_theora_extension function within qtdemux.c, where an integer underflow of the gint size variable leads to memory corruption and potentially arbitrary code execution.

Critical Impact

This vulnerability allows attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution through function pointer hijacking when processing malicious media files, potentially leading to complete system compromise.

Affected Products

• GStreamer Project GStreamer (versions prior to 1.24.10)
• Debian Linux 11.0
• Systems utilizing GStreamer for multimedia processing

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-12-12 - CVE-2024-47606 published to NVD
• 2025-11-03 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-47606

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability represents a sophisticated exploitation chain that begins with an integer underflow and ultimately enables arbitrary code execution through function pointer hijacking. The flaw resides in the QuickTime demuxer's handling of Theora codec extension data.

When parsing Theora extensions, the gint size variable can underflow, causing it to hold an unexpectedly large value when cast to an unsigned integer. This corrupted 32-bit value is subsequently cast to a 64-bit unsigned integer (resulting in 0xfffffffffffffffa), which is passed to gst_buffer_new_and_alloc for memory allocation.

The allocation chain continues through gst_buffer_new_allocate to _sysmem_new_block, where the addition of alignment and header values to the already corrupted size causes the slice_size variable to overflow. This results in allocating only 0x89 bytes despite the system believing it has allocated a much larger buffer.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper handling of signed-to-unsigned integer conversions in the Theora extension parsing code. The vulnerability stems from inadequate bounds checking on the size variable before it is used in memory allocation operations, combined with the dangerous implicit type conversions between signed and unsigned integer types of different sizes.

Attack Vector

The attack requires local access where an attacker must trick a user into opening a specially crafted media file or have the ability to supply malicious media content to an application using GStreamer. The exploitation flow proceeds as follows:

1. Attacker crafts a malicious media file containing a specially constructed Theora extension header
2. When GStreamer processes this file, the undersized buffer allocation occurs
3. A subsequent memcpy call in gst_buffer_fill overwrites memory beyond the allocated buffer
4. The overflow corrupts the GstMapInfo info structure
5. During gst_memory_unmap, the corrupted mem->allocator->mem_unmap_full function pointer is dereferenced
6. Attacker-controlled data redirects execution flow, achieving arbitrary code execution

The vulnerability is triggered through the following code path: qtdemux_parse_theora_extension → gst_buffer_new_and_alloc → gst_buffer_new_allocate → _sysmem_new_block → gst_buffer_fill → gst_memory_unmap. For detailed technical analysis, see the GitHub Security Advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-47606

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected crashes in applications using GStreamer when processing media files
• Abnormal memory allocation patterns in GStreamer-related processes
• Suspicious Theora-encoded media files with malformed extension headers
• Process execution anomalies following media file processing

Detection Strategies

• Monitor for crashes in GStreamer components, particularly qtdemux plugin crashes with memory corruption signatures
• Implement file integrity monitoring for media files in processing pipelines
• Deploy endpoint detection rules for suspicious memory allocation patterns following media file operations
• Use application sandboxing to contain potential exploitation attempts

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging for GStreamer applications to capture parsing errors
• Monitor system calls related to memory allocation in media processing applications
• Implement network monitoring for delivery of potentially malicious media content
• Review application logs for GStreamer-related segmentation faults or memory access violations

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-47606

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade GStreamer to version 1.24.10 or later immediately
• Audit systems for vulnerable GStreamer installations using package managers
• Restrict processing of untrusted media files until patches are applied
• Consider disabling Theora codec support if not required

Patch Information

The vulnerability has been fixed in GStreamer version 1.24.10. The official patch is available through the GitLab Merge Request. Additional security guidance is provided in the GStreamer Security Advisory SA-2024-0014. Debian users should refer to the Debian LTS announcements for distribution-specific updates.

Workarounds

• Disable or remove the QuickTime demuxer plugin (qtdemux) if Theora content processing is not required
• Implement strict input validation and sandboxing for media processing applications
• Use application-level firewalls to restrict media file sources
• Deploy runtime application self-protection (RASP) solutions to detect exploitation attempts

If immediate patching is not possible, consider restricting GStreamer's functionality through environment configuration or removing the vulnerable plugin:

# Identify installed GStreamer plugins
gst-inspect-1.0 | grep qtdemux

# On Debian/Ubuntu systems, update GStreamer packages
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade libgstreamer1.0-0 gstreamer1.0-plugins-good

# Verify the installed version is 1.24.10 or later
gst-inspect-1.0 --version