CVE-2012-0855
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 · uneditedHeap-based buffer overflow in the get_sot function in the J2K decoder (j2k.c) in libavcodec in FFmpeg before 0.9.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via unspecified vectors related to the curtileno variable.
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 · moderate confidenceHeap-based buffer overflow in the get_sot function in the J2K decoder (j2k.c) in libavcodec in FFmpeg before version 0.9.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via unspecified vectors related to the curtileno variable.
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<= 0.9= 0.3= 0.3.1= 0.3.2= 0.3.3= 0.3.4= 0.4.0= 0.4.2= 0.4.3= 0.4.4= 0.4.5= 0.4.6CVSS 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
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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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Determine FFmpeg versionRun 'ffmpeg -version' or 'avconv -version' to retrieve the installed version numberAffected if The version listed is 0.3.x, 0.4.x through 0.4.6, or any version below 0.9.1
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Locate libavcodec libraryCheck for the presence of libavcodec shared library (typically libavcodec.so* on Linux, avcodec.dll on Windows, or libavcodec.dylib on macOS) using 'find /usr -name "libavcodec*" 2>/dev/null' or similar filesystem searchAffected if The library file exists and its version corresponds to an affected FFmpeg version
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Verify J2K decoder is availableRun 'ffmpeg -codecs 2>/dev/null | grep -i j2k' or 'ffmpeg -formats 2>/dev/null | grep -i j2k' to list JPEG2000/J2K decoders and muxersAffected if The J2K or JPEG2000 decoder is listed as supported (indicating the vulnerable j2k.c code is present in the build)
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Confirm j2k.c source is part of the buildIf source code is available, check the j2k.c file for the get_sot function and the curtileno variable usage, or check build configuration files for J2K supportAffected if The vulnerable get_sot function handling curtileno exists in the installed libavcodec
You are affected if you have FFmpeg version 0.3.x through 0.4.6 (or below 0.9.1) with libavcodec containing the J2K decoder and you process JPEG2000/J2K files using the vulnerable code path.
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/libavcodec to version 0.9.1 or later to obtain the patch for this vulnerability. If updating is not feasible, consider input validation on J2K/JPEG2000 files before processing.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-0855 — 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-2012-0855 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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