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DemuxerApplication · Matroska

CVE-2008-1161

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-03-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.1.10 or later.
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
Buffer overflow in the Matroska demuxer (demuxers/demux_matroska.c) in xine-lib before 1.1.10.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via a Matroska file with invalid frame sizes.

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

A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the Matroska demuxer component (demuxers/demux_matroska.c) of xine-lib versions prior to 1.1.10.1. The vulnerability is triggered when processing Matroska media files containing invalid frame sizes, potentially allowing remote attackers to crash the application or execute arbitrary code.

MitigationUpgrade xine-lib to version 1.1.10.1 or later to obtain the patched demuxer. Until patched, avoid opening untrusted Matroska files with applications using vulnerable xine-lib versions.

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
DemuxerApplication
Affected:<= 1.1.10

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. Identify xine-lib version
    Check the installed version of xine-lib using your system's package manager, library query tools, or by examining the library binary. Common methods include querying your package management system (dpkg, rpm, etc.) or using commands like 'ldd' or 'strings' on the library file.
    Affected if The installed version is prior to 1.1.10.1 (versions 1.1.10 and earlier are affected)
  2. Verify Matroska demuxer component exists
    Confirm that the demux_matroska.c component or its compiled demuxer module is present in the xine-lib installation. This is typically found in the demuxers directory of the library.
    Affected if The Matroska demuxer module is present and loadable by xine-lib based applications
  3. Determine if Matroska file handling is active
    Identify whether applications using xine-lib are actively processing or could process Matroska (.mkv, .mka) media files. Check if any media players or applications linked against this xine-lib are in use.
    Affected if Applications using the vulnerable xine-lib version are used to open or process Matroska media files

You are affected if your installed xine-lib version is prior to 1.1.10.1 AND applications using this library process Matroska media files with potentially malformed frame size data.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 1.1.10
Interim mitigation

Upgrade xine-lib to version 1.1.10.1 or later to obtain the patched demuxer. Until patched, avoid opening untrusted Matroska files with applications using vulnerable xine-lib versions.

Recommended fix High confidence

xine-lib 1.1.10.1

  1. Identify the installed xine-lib package version using your system's package manager (e.g., dpkg -l | grep xine-lib, rpm -qa xine-lib, or pacman -Qs xine-lib)
  2. Update the package repository cache (e.g., apt-get update, yum check-update, or pacman -Sy)
  3. Upgrade xine-lib to version 1.1.10.1 or later using the appropriate package manager command (e.g., apt-get install xine-lib, yum update xine-lib, or pacman -S xine-lib)
  4. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds 1.1.10.1
  5. Restart any applications that use xine-lib to ensure they load the patched library
Caveat Upgrading xine-lib may require recompiling applications that link against it, as library soname versions may have changed

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Demuxer Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,720
Get the upgrade done

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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-2008-1161 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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