Description
PulseAudio 0.9.5 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon crash) via (1) a PA_PSTREAM_DESCRIPTOR_LENGTH value of FRAME_SIZE_MAX_ALLOW sent on TCP port 9875, which triggers a p->export assertion failure in do_read; (2) a PA_PSTREAM_DESCRIPTOR_LENGTH value of 0 sent on TCP port 9875, which triggers a length assertion failure in pa_memblock_new; or (3) an empty packet on UDP port 9875, which triggers a t assertion failure in pa_sdp_parse; and allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (daemon crash) via a crafted packet on TCP port 9875 that (4) triggers a maxlength assertion failure in pa_memblockq_new, (5) triggers a size assertion failure in pa_xmalloc, or (6) plays a certain sound file.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | pulseaudio | 0.9.6-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | pulseaudio | 0.9.6-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | pulseaudio | 0.9.6-1 | — |
| Debian 5.0 | pulseaudio | 0.9.5-7lenny2 | DTSA-44-1 |
Public exploits
Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.
Exploit-DB 1
- PulseAudio 0.9.5 - 'Assert()' Remote Denial of Service EDB-29809 · dos · Apr 2, 2007 · verified
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
Advisories 1
- DTSA-44-1 pulseaudio - remote DoS Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
References
- 25431 third-party-advisory
- MDVSA-2008:065 vendor-advisory
- ADV-2007-1214 vdb-entry
- http://aluigi.altervista.org/adv/pulsex-adv.txt
- pulseaudio-assert-dos(33315) vdb-entry
- SUSE-SR:2007:013 vendor-advisory
- 23240 vdb-entry
- USN-465-1 vendor-advisory
- http://aluigi.org/poc/pulsex.zip
- 25787 third-party-advisory