# CVE-2021-3643: Information disclosure in sox

> A global buffer overflow in the SoX library allows attackers to disclose sensitive information by providing a malicious audio file.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 2 May 2022
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-3643, GHSA-6537-hg9g-m5mp, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-3643

## What is CVE-2021-3643?

CVE-2021-3643 is a critical vulnerability in sox, published on 2 May 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A flaw was found in sox 14.4.1. The lsx_adpcm_init function within libsox leads to a global-buffer-overflow. This flaw allows an attacker to input a malicious file, leading to the disclosure of sensitive information.

Weakness: CWE-120 (Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input), CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-3643?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Sound Exchange Project Sound Exchange.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-3643?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2021-3643 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-3643 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in sox

- [CVE-2021-40426](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-40426/): Memory corruption in libsox (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2021-23159](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-23159/): Memory corruption in SoX (Sound eXchange) (medium 5.5)
- [CVE-2021-23172](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-23172/): Memory corruption in SoX (Sound eXchange) (medium 5.5)
- [CVE-2021-23210](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-23210/): Denial of service in SoX (Sound eXchange) (medium 5.5)
- [CVE-2021-33844](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-33844/): Denial of service in SoX (Sound eXchange) (medium 5.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-3643 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-3643 is a critical vulnerability in sox, published on 2 May 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-3643 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: sox. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3643/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3643/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-3643
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-3643
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-3643

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3643/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.