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FfmpegApplication

CVE-2012-2783

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 libavcodec/vp56.c in FFmpeg before 0.11, and Libav 0.7.x before 0.7.7 and 0.8.x before 0.8.5, has unknown impact and attack vectors, related to "freeing the returned frame."

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

Memory corruption vulnerability in the VP56 video decoder (libavcodec/vp56.c) in FFmpeg and Libav allows attackers to cause a double-free or use-after-free when freeing returned frames, leading to potential arbitrary code execution with CVSS 10 severity.

MitigationUpgrade FFmpeg to version 0.11 or later, or Libav to 0.7.7/0.8.5 or later. If upgrading is not possible, restrict access to untrusted video input sources and consider network-level filtering.

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
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
LibavApplication
Affected:= 0.8= 0.8.1= 0.8.2= 0.8.3= 0.8.4= 0.7= 0.7.1= 0.7.2= 0.7.3= 0.7.4= 0.7.5= 0.7.6

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 installed media framework
    Run 'ffmpeg -version 2>&1' or 'avconv -version 2>&1' to determine if FFmpeg or Libav is present and capture the version string
    Affected if The version output shows FFmpeg or Libav with a version number matching the affected ranges (FFmpeg <= 0.10.4, 0.3.x, 0.4.x; Libav 0.7.x, 0.8.x)
  2. Confirm exact version number
    Parse the version output from step 1 to extract the precise version (e.g., 0.10.4, 0.4.3, 0.7.3, 0.8.2)
    Affected if The installed version exactly matches one of the versions listed in the affected products or falls within the <= 0.10.4 range for FFmpeg
  3. Verify VP56 decoder availability
    Run 'ffmpeg -codecs 2>&1 | grep -i vp5' or 'avconv -codecs 2>&1 | grep -i vp5' to list decoders; look for vp5, vp6, or vp56 in the output
    Affected if The VP56 family decoders (vp5, vp6, vp60, vp61, vp62, vp6f, vp6g) are listed as available encoders/decoders
  4. Check for active VP56 video processing
    Review application logs, proxy configs, or media processing pipelines that handle video input; look for decoding of VP3/VP5/VP6 format files (common extensions: .vp3, .vp5, .vp6, .webm)
    Affected if The system processes or has recently processed video files using VP5/VP6 codec family which triggers the vulnerable VP56 decoder code path

A system is affected if it runs any version of FFmpeg <= 0.10.4, 0.3.x, or 0.4.x, or any version of Libav 0.7.x or 0.8.x, AND utilizes the VP56 decoder to process video input.

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 0.7.7/0.8.5 or later. If upgrading is not possible, restrict access to untrusted video input sources and consider network-level filtering.

Recommended fix High confidence

FFmpeg 0.11+ or Libav 0.8.5+/0.7.7+

  1. 1. Identify which library (FFmpeg or Libav) is in use in your system
  2. 2. For FFmpeg: upgrade to version 0.11 or later (recommended: latest stable release)
  3. 3. For Libav: upgrade to version 0.8.5 or later (or 0.7.7 if using 0.7.x branch)
  4. 4. Rebuild any applications that link against the library
  5. 5. Verify the upgrade by checking the library version matches the fixed release
Caveat Minor: Ensure any custom code relying on specific frame handling behavior is tested; some API/behavior changes may exist between 0.10.x and 0.11 for FFmpeg

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

Fix this in Ffmpeg 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
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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-2012-2783 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
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