CVE-2021-40426 Explained : Impact and Mitigation

This article provides detailed information about CVE-2021-40426, a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability found in Sound Exchange libsox 14.4.2 and master commit 42b3557e.

Understanding CVE-2021-40426

This section will cover what CVE-2021-40426 is, its impact, technical details, and mitigation steps.

What is CVE-2021-40426?

CVE-2021-40426 is a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the sphere.c start_read() function of Sound Exchange libsox 14.4.2 and master commit 42b3557e. An attacker can exploit this by providing a specially crafted file.

The Impact of CVE-2021-40426

The vulnerability has a CVSS base score of 10, indicating a critical severity level. It can lead to high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts on affected systems.

Technical Details of CVE-2021-40426

This section delves into the vulnerability description, affected systems and versions, and exploitation mechanism.

Vulnerability Description

A heap-based buffer overflow exists in the sphere.c start_read() function of Sound Exchange libsox, allowing an attacker to trigger a heap buffer overflow by providing a malicious file.

Affected Systems and Versions

Vendor: Sound Exchange
Product: libsox
Affected Versions:
14.4.2
master commit 42b3557e

Exploitation Mechanism

The attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending a specially crafted file to trigger the heap buffer overflow.

Mitigation and Prevention

In this section, we cover the immediate steps to take, long-term security practices, and the importance of patching and updates.

Immediate Steps to Take

Apply the patches provided by the vendor promptly.
Implement network segmentation to limit the impact of potential attacks.

Long-Term Security Practices

Conduct regular security assessments and code reviews.
Stay updated on security advisories from trusted sources.

Patching and Updates

Regularly update the libsox software to the latest version containing the security patches.