Vlc Media PlayerApplication · Videolan

CVE-2012-3377

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-07-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.0.1 or later.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Heap-based buffer overflow in the Ogg_DecodePacket function in the OGG demuxer (modules/demux/ogg.c) in VideoLAN VLC media player before 2.0.2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted OGG file.

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

Heap-based buffer overflow in the Ogg_DecodePacket function in VLC's OGG demuxer (modules/demux/ogg.c) allows remote attackers to cause denial of service and potentially execute arbitrary code via a crafted OGG file. The vulnerability affects VLC media player versions prior to 2.0.2.

MitigationUpgrade VLC media player to version 2.0.2 or later. Avoid opening untrusted or unknown OGG files until the patch is applied.

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
Vlc Media PlayerApplication
Affected:<= 2.0.1= 0.1.99a= 0.1.99b= 0.1.99c= 0.1.99d= 0.1.99e= 0.1.99f= 0.1.99g= 0.1.99h= 0.1.99i= 0.2.0= 0.2.50

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check if VLC is installed
    On Windows: check Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC or run 'vlc --version' from command line. On Linux: run 'vlc --version' or check /usr/bin/vlc. On macOS: check /Applications/VLC.app
    Affected if VLC is installed and the version is 2.0.1 or earlier, or one of the specific versions listed (0.1.99a-0.2.50)
  2. Determine the exact VLC version
    Run 'vlc --version' from a terminal or command prompt. On Windows, you can also right-click the vlc.exe file, select Properties, and view the File Version under the Details tab.
    Affected if Version returned is 2.0.1 or lower, or matches 0.1.99a through 0.2.50 range
  3. Verify OGG demuxer is present
    Check that the OGG demuxer module exists in the VLC installation. On Windows: look for modules\demux\ogg.dll in the VLC directory. On Linux: check for libogg_plugin.so in the plugins directory.
    Affected if The OGG demuxer module exists and the VLC version is in the affected range

You are affected if VLC media player version 2.0.1 or earlier (or specifically 0.1.99a through 0.2.50) is installed and the OGG demuxer module is present on the system.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.0.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade VLC media player to version 2.0.2 or later. Avoid opening untrusted or unknown OGG files until the patch is applied.

Fix this in Vlc Media Player Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-3377 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2012-3377 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