VideoLAN VLC media player 2.2.x is prone to a use after free vulnerability which an attacker can leverage to execute arbitrary code via crafted MKV files. Failed exploit attempts will likely result in denial of service conditions.

The remote Ubuntu 16.04 ESM host has packages installed that are affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the USN-4805-1 advisory.

    It was discovered that VLC mishandled certain crafted media files. An attacker could use this     vulnerability to cause a denial of service (crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code. This issue only     affected Ubuntu 14.04 ESM. (CVE-2017-10699)

    It was discovered that VLC mishandled certain crafted MKV files. An attacker could use this vulnerability     to cause a denial of service (crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2018-11529)

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The version of VLC media player installed on the remote host is equal or prior to 2.2.8. It is, therefore, affected by a use-after-free vulnerability. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to cause a denial of service or potentially execute arbitrary code.

Mitre reports :

VideoLAN VLC media player 2.2.x is prone to a use after free vulnerability which an attacker can leverage to execute arbitrary code via crafted MKV files. Failed exploit attempts will likely result in denial of service conditions.

A use-after-free was discovered in the MP4 demuxer of the VLC media player, which could result in the execution of arbitrary code if a malformed media file is played.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
183558	Ubuntu 16.04 ESM : VLC vulnerabilities (USN-4805-1)	Nessus	Ubuntu Local Security Checks	critical
112216	VLC Media Player <= 2.2.8 Use-After-Free RCE	Nessus	Windows	high
111224	FreeBSD : vlc -- Use after free vulnerability (dc57ad48-ecbb-439b-a4d0-5869be47684e)	Nessus	FreeBSD Local Security Checks	high
111174	Debian DSA-4251-1 : vlc - security update	Nessus	Debian Local Security Checks	high

Detections

Analytics

CVE-2018-11529

high

Tenable Plugins

critical

high

high

high