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LibavApplication

CVE-2012-2798

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 decode_dds1 function in libavcodec/dfa.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 an "out of array write."

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 confidence

Buffer overflow vulnerability in the decode_dds1 function in libavcodec/dfa.c allows out-of-bounds memory write when processing malformed DDS1 video files. This memory corruption issue in FFmpeg and Libav video decoders could potentially allow arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpgrade to FFmpeg 0.11 or later, or Libav 0.7.7+/0.8.4+. If upgrading is not feasible, implement input validation for DDS1 files before passing to the decoder.

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 installed video codec library
    Run 'ffmpeg -version' or 'avconv -version' to determine if FFmpeg or Libav is installed and note the version number
    Affected if The version matches Libav 0.7.x/0.8.x or FFmpeg 0.3.x-0.4.6 or <=0.10.4
  2. Locate libavcodec library
    Check for the presence of libavcodec library files on the system, typically in /usr/lib/ or /usr/local/lib/, and note the library version from the filename or using 'avconv -codecs | grep dfa'
    Affected if The dfa decoder is present in the installed library version that is vulnerable
  3. Verify DDS1 decoder availability
    Run 'ffmpeg -codecs 2>/dev/null | grep -i dds' or 'avconv -codecs 2>/dev/null | grep -i dds' to confirm the DDS1 decoder is compiled into the installation
    Affected if The dfa decoder is listed and available for processing video files
  4. Check for DDS1 file processing capability
    Inspect any media processing scripts, transcoding pipelines, or services that process video files, looking for automatic handling of unknown or untrusted video formats
    Affected if The system automatically processes video files from untrusted sources using the affected library

A system is affected if it runs a vulnerable version of FFmpeg (0.3 through 0.4.6, or 0.10.4 and below) or Libav (0.7.x or 0.8.x) that includes the dfa decoder and processes DDS1 video files from untrusted sources.

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 to FFmpeg 0.11 or later, or Libav 0.7.7+/0.8.4+. If upgrading is not feasible, implement input validation for DDS1 files before passing to the decoder.

Recommended fix High confidence

FFmpeg 0.11+ or Libav 0.8.4+/0.7.7+

  1. Identify which library (Libav or FFmpeg) is in use and the specific version from the affected list
  2. For Libav 0.8.x users: Upgrade to Libav 0.8.4 or later
  3. For Libav 0.7.x users: Upgrade to Libav 0.7.7 or later
  4. For FFmpeg 0.10.x and earlier users: Upgrade to FFmpeg 0.11 or later
  5. For FFmpeg 0.3.x users: Upgrade to FFmpeg 0.11 or later (0.3.x is very outdated and should not be used)
  6. Verify the upgrade by checking `ffmpeg -version` or `avconv -version` shows the new version number
Caveat Minor version upgrades typically have low risk; however, verify any custom encoding workflows against the new release notes

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

Fix this in Libav Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $2,970
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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-2012-2798 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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