CVE-2011-4364
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 · uneditedBuffer overflow in the Sierra VMD decoder in libavcodec in FFmpeg 0.5.x before 0.5.7, 0.6.x before 0.6.4, 0.7.x before 0.7.9 and 0.8.x before 0.8.8; and in Libav 0.5.x before 0.5.6, 0.6.x before 0.6.4, and 0.7.x before 0.7.3 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted VMD file, related to corrupted streams.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow in the Sierra VMD decoder in libavcodec allows remote attackers to cause denial of service and potentially execute arbitrary code via a crafted VMD file with corrupted stream data.
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= 0.5= 0.5.1= 0.5.2= 0.5.3= 0.5.4= 0.5.5= 0.6= 0.6.1= 0.6.2= 0.6.3= 0.7= 0.7.1= 0.5= 0.5.1= 0.5.2= 0.5.3= 0.5.4= 0.5.5= 0.6= 0.6.1= 0.6.2= 0.6.3= 0.7= 0.7.1CVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed multimedia frameworkRun 'ffmpeg -version' or 'avconv -version' to determine if FFmpeg or Libav is installed and note the product nameAffected if The output shows FFmpeg or Libav with a version number in the 0.5.x, 0.6.x, or 0.7.x series
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Confirm exact version numberParse the version string from the output - look for versions 0.5, 0.5.1, 0.5.2, 0.5.3, 0.5.4, 0.5.5, 0.6, 0.6.1, 0.6.2, 0.6.3, 0.7, or 0.7.1Affected if The installed version exactly matches one of the listed affected versions (0.5 through 0.7.1)
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Check for VMD decoder presenceRun 'ffmpeg -codecs 2>/dev/null | grep -i vmd' or 'avconv -codecs 2>/dev/null | grep -i vmd' to see if the Sierra VMD decoder is compiled into the installationAffected if The VMD decoder (often labeled as 'sierra vmd' or similar) appears in the codec list as available
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Identify VMD file processing capabilityInspect any media processing workflows, scripts, or services that may accept video input files - check if .vmd files are processed or could be processed by the installed softwareAffected if The environment processes or could process VMD video files using the affected library
A system is affected if it runs FFmpeg or Libav versions 0.5 through 0.7.1 and has the Sierra VMD decoder available or processes VMD files.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpdate FFmpeg to version 0.5.7, 0.6.4, 0.7.9, or 0.8.8+ (or Libav to 0.5.6, 0.6.4, or 0.7.3+) to obtain the patched decoder; alternatively, sanitize or reject VMD input before processing.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-4364 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2011-4364 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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
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