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LibavApplication

CVE-2012-2772

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-09-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 0.10.4 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
Unspecified vulnerability in the ff_rv34_decode_frame function in libavcodec/rv34.c in FFmpeg before 0.11, and Libav 0.7.x before 0.7.7 and 0.8.x before 0.8.4, has unknown impact and attack vectors, related to "width/height changing with frame threading."

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 confidence

A vulnerability in the RealVideo decoder (ff_rv34_decode_frame in libavcodec/rv34.c) allows width/height values to change unexpectedly during frame threading operations. This can lead to memory corruption, out-of-bounds reads/writes, or undefined behavior due to improper bounds checking when frame dimensions shift during parallel decode processing.

MitigationUpgrade FFmpeg to version 0.11 or later, or Libav to 0.7.7+/0.8.4+ to obtain the patched library. No workarounds exist for this parsing logic vulnerability.

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
LibavApplication
Affected:= 0.8= 0.8.1= 0.8.2= 0.8.3= 0.7= 0.7.1= 0.7.2= 0.7.3= 0.7.4= 0.7.5= 0.7.6
FfmpegApplication
Affected:<= 0.10.4= 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= 0.4.6

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
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/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 if FFmpeg or Libav is installed
    Run 'ffmpeg -version' or 'avconv -version' (Libav's avconv is a fork) to check which library is present on the system
    Affected if Either ffmpeg or libav is installed and the version falls within the affected ranges
  2. Determine the installed FFmpeg version
    Run 'ffmpeg -version' and parse the output for the version number (for example, 0.10.4, 0.4.0, 0.3.2)
    Affected if The version is 0.10.4 or lower, or matches any of 0.3 through 0.3.4, or 0.4.0 through 0.4.6
  3. Determine the installed Libav version
    Run 'avconv -version' and parse the output for the version number (for example, 0.8, 0.7.5)
    Affected if The version matches 0.8.x series (0.8 through 0.8.3) or 0.7.x series (0.7 through 0.7.6)
  4. Confirm RealVideo decoding capability is in use
    Inspect application logs or configuration to determine if the system or application processes RealVideo streams (typically .rv, .rm, .rmvb files) using the affected library
    Affected if RealVideo content is being decoded AND the library version is within the affected ranges listed above
  5. Check if frame threading is enabled for video decoding
    Review the application's codec configuration or ffmpeg/libav command-line parameters for thread settings (such as -threads N or thread_type options); frame threading is often enabled by default for parallel decoding
    Affected if Frame-based threading is enabled for RealVideo decoding with an affected library version

A system is affected if it runs FFmpeg <= 0.10.4 or 0.3.x-0.4.6, or Libav 0.7.x-0.8.3, and processes RealVideo content with frame threading enabled.

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 0.10.4
Interim mitigation

Upgrade FFmpeg to version 0.11 or later, or Libav to 0.7.7+/0.8.4+ to obtain the patched library. No workarounds exist for this parsing logic vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

FFmpeg 0.11+ or Libav 0.7.7+/0.8.4+ (depending on which branch is in use)

  1. Identify which affected library is in use (FFmpeg or Libav)
  2. For FFmpeg users: upgrade to version 0.11 or later
  3. For Libav 0.7.x users: upgrade to version 0.7.7 or later
  4. For Libav 0.8.x users: upgrade to version 0.8.4 or later
  5. Verify the installed version matches the fixed release after upgrade
Caveat Upgrading major versions may introduce API/ABI changes; test thoroughly before deploying to production

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

Fix this in Libav Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
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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-2012-2772 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