CVE-2025-30422: Apple AirPlay SDK Buffer Overflow Flaw

CVE-2025-30422 Overview

CVE-2025-30422 is a buffer overflow vulnerability affecting Apple's AirPlay and CarPlay SDKs. The vulnerability exists due to insufficient input validation in the affected components, allowing an attacker positioned on the local network to cause an unexpected application termination. This denial of service condition impacts devices utilizing the AirPlay audio SDK, AirPlay video SDK, and CarPlay Communication Plug-in.

Critical Impact

An attacker on the local network can exploit this buffer overflow to cause denial of service through unexpected application termination in AirPlay and CarPlay-enabled devices.

Affected Products

• Apple AirPlay Audio SDK versions prior to 2.7.1
• Apple AirPlay Video SDK versions prior to 3.6.0.126
• Apple CarPlay Communication Plug-in versions prior to R18.1

Discovery Timeline

• April 30, 2025 - CVE-2025-30422 published to NVD
• May 12, 2025 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-30422

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-120 (Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input), commonly known as a classic buffer overflow. The flaw occurs when the affected SDKs process input data without properly validating its size, allowing data to overflow beyond the allocated buffer boundaries. Since the attack vector requires adjacent network access, an attacker must be positioned on the same local network segment as the target device to exploit this vulnerability. No user interaction or special privileges are required for exploitation, though the impact is limited to availability—causing application crashes rather than enabling code execution or data theft.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-30422 lies in improper input validation within Apple's AirPlay and CarPlay SDK components. When processing network data, the affected code copies input into a fixed-size buffer without adequately verifying that the input length does not exceed the buffer capacity. This classic buffer overflow pattern (CWE-120) allows specially crafted network packets to write beyond buffer boundaries, corrupting memory and causing the application to terminate unexpectedly.

Attack Vector

The attack requires the attacker to be on the same local network (adjacent network access) as the target device running the vulnerable SDK. The attacker can send maliciously crafted network packets to the AirPlay or CarPlay service, triggering the buffer overflow condition. The vulnerability has low attack complexity and requires no authentication or user interaction, making it relatively straightforward to exploit for denial of service purposes once network adjacency is established.

The exploitation mechanism involves sending oversized or malformed data to the vulnerable input handling routines within the AirPlay/CarPlay protocol stack. When the buffer overflow occurs, it corrupts adjacent memory structures, leading to application instability and termination. For detailed technical information, refer to the Apple Support Article.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-30422

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected termination or crashes of AirPlay or CarPlay-enabled applications
• Unusual network traffic patterns targeting AirPlay/CarPlay service ports from devices on the local network
• Repeated application restart events correlating with network activity from specific hosts

Detection Strategies

• Monitor for anomalous packet sizes or malformed protocol data targeting AirPlay and CarPlay services
• Implement network intrusion detection rules to identify potential buffer overflow exploitation attempts against Apple streaming protocols
• Track application crash logs for AirPlay/CarPlay components and correlate with network events

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging on AirPlay and CarPlay-enabled devices to capture crash events and network activity
• Deploy network monitoring solutions capable of inspecting local network traffic for protocol anomalies
• Set up alerting for repeated application crashes in multimedia streaming components

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-30422

Immediate Actions Required

• Update AirPlay Audio SDK to version 2.7.1 or later
• Update AirPlay Video SDK to version 3.6.0.126 or later
• Update CarPlay Communication Plug-in to version R18.1 or later
• Review all deployed applications and devices utilizing these SDKs to ensure patches are applied

Patch Information

Apple has addressed this vulnerability through improved input validation in the affected SDKs. The fixes are available in AirPlay Audio SDK 2.7.1, AirPlay Video SDK 3.6.0.126, and CarPlay Communication Plug-in R18.1. Organizations and developers using these SDKs should update to the patched versions immediately. For complete patch details and download information, consult the Apple Support Article.

Workarounds

• Implement network segmentation to limit exposure of AirPlay and CarPlay services to trusted network segments only
• Deploy firewall rules to restrict access to AirPlay/CarPlay service ports from untrusted devices on the local network
• Consider disabling AirPlay/CarPlay functionality on devices where it is not required until patches can be applied

# Example: Network segmentation - restrict AirPlay traffic to trusted VLAN
# Consult your network administrator for implementation specific to your environment
# Block AirPlay/CarPlay ports from untrusted network segments
iptables -A INPUT -i eth0 -s 192.168.1.0/24 -p tcp --dport 7000 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -i eth0 -p tcp --dport 7000 -j DROP