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Movie DecoderApplication · VMware

CVE-2009-1565

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2010-04-12
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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
vmnc.dll in the VMnc media codec in VMware Movie Decoder before 6.5.4 Build 246459 on Windows, and the movie decoder in VMware Workstation 6.5.x before 6.5.4 build 246459, VMware Player 2.5.x before 2.5.4 build 246459, and VMware Server 2.x on Windows, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via an AVI file with crafted HexTile-encoded video chunks that trigger heap-based buffer overflows, related to "integer truncation errors."

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-119

The program reads or writes outside the bounds of an allocated buffer, corrupting adjacent memory. With crafted input an attacker can overwrite control data and, with effort, redirect execution to their own code. Remediation ranges from bounds checking and safe library functions to compiler mitigations, usually alongside a careful audit of the surrounding code.

General guidance for the memory buffer bounds error class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
Movie DecoderApplication
Affected:= 6.5.3
WorkstationApplication
Affected:= 6.5.0= 6.5.1= 6.5.2= 6.5.3
PlayerApplication
Affected:= 2.5= 2.5.1= 2.5.2= 2.5.3
ServerApplication
Affected:= 2.0.0= 2.0.1= 2.0.2

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

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
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch lists.vmware.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

VMware Workstation 6.5.4 (Build 246459), VMware Player 2.5.4 (Build 246459), or VMware Server 2.0.3+

  1. Identify the exact VMware product installed (Movie Decoder, Workstation, Player, or Server) and its current version
  2. For VMware Workstation: Upgrade to version 6.5.4 build 246459 or later
  3. For VMware Player: Upgrade to version 2.5.4 build 246459 or later
  4. For VMware Server 2.x on Windows: Apply the patch from the VMware security advisory or upgrade to a supported version
  5. For VMware Movie Decoder: Upgrade to version 6.5.4 build 246459 or later
  6. After upgrading, verify the vmnc.dll version matches the patched release (6.5.4 Build 246459)
Caveat Minor: Upgrading within the 6.5.x product line should not introduce breaking changes; ensure guest VM compatibility before production deployment

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

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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-2009-1565 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
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