Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2004/11/25/winamp_vuln/

Warning: critical Winamp vuln

Play it again, hacker

By John Leyden

Posted in Security, 25th November 2004 11:40 GMT

Security researchers are warning of a serious - and unfixed - security hole with the popular Winamp media player.

A remotely exploitable stack based buffer overflow creates a means for hackers to take over machines running Winamp- providing they can trick users into running maliciously constructed files. For example, a malformed .m3u playlist file, hosted on a web site, would be automatically downloaded and opened in Winamp without any user interaction. The vulnerability, discovered by pen testers at Security-Assessment.com, arises from a buffer overflow in library file (called IN_CDDA.dll) used by Winamp.

The vulnerability has been reported in version 5.05 and confirmed in version 5.06. Prior versions might also be affected, security firm Secunia warns. A proof of concept exploit was released yesterday by security outfit K-OTik. K-otik advises users to uninstall Winamp or at the very least disassociate .cda and .m3u extensions from Winamp until the bug is fixed. ®

Related stories

AOL axes Nullsoft - whither Winamp, Shoutcast?
WinAmp flayed by skins attack
XP audio vuln shout goes out

Related links

Security-Assessment.com's advisory (PDF)