WinampApplication · Nullsoft

CVE-2003-1272

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2003-12-31
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Multiple buffer overflows in Winamp 3.0 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via a .b4s file containing (1) a long playlist name or (2) a long path in a file: argument to the Playstring parameter.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Winamp 3.0 contains multiple buffer overflow vulnerabilities when parsing .b4s playlist files. Specifically, the application fails to properly validate input length when processing a long playlist name or a long path in the file: argument to the Playstring parameter. This allows remote attackers to crash the application or potentially execute arbitrary code via a specially crafted .b4s file.

MitigationUpgrade Winamp to a patched version that addresses these buffer overflow vulnerabilities. If Winamp 3.0 must be used, avoid opening untrusted .b4s files from unknown sources.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
WinampApplication
Affected:= 3.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Winamp is installed
    Check for Winamp installation by searching for winamp.exe in common installation directories (C:\Program Files\Winamp\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Winamp\) or by checking the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Winamp or HKCU\SOFTWARE\Winamp
    Affected if Winamp is not found on the system, then this CVE does not apply
  2. Identify the installed Winamp version
    Right-click winamp.exe, select Properties, and view the Version tab to see the File Version, or run 'winamp.exe /?' or check Add/Remove Programs for the installed version number
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 3.0; versions before or after 3.0 are not affected by this specific CVE
  3. Confirm .b4s file handling capability
    Check if Winamp has registered itself as the handler for .b4s files by examining the registry keys under HKCR\.b4s\OpenWithProgids or by looking at file associations in Winamp's preferences under 'File Types'
    Affected if Winamp is associated with .b4s files and can be invoked to open them, making the vulnerability reachable

A user is affected only if Winamp version 3.0 is installed AND it is configured to handle .b4s playlist files, allowing a specially crafted .b4s file to trigger the buffer overflow.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Winamp to a patched version that addresses these buffer overflow vulnerabilities. If Winamp 3.0 must be used, avoid opening untrusted .b4s files from unknown sources.

Fix this in Winamp Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2003-1272 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2003-1272 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data