dbcve.org
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical

CVE-2012-5144

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-12-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 23.0.1271.96 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
Google Chrome before 23.0.1271.97, and Libav 0.7.x before 0.7.7 and 0.8.x before 0.8.5, do not properly perform AAC decoding, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (stack memory corruption) or possibly have unspecified other impact via vectors related to "an off-by-one overwrite when switching to LTP profile from MAIN."

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

An off-by-one error in the AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) decoder in Google Chrome and Libav allows stack memory corruption when switching from MAIN profile to LTP profile during audio stream decoding. This stack corruption can cause denial of service and potentially enable arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpdate Google Chrome to version 23.0.1271.97 or later, and Libav to version 0.7.7 or later (0.7.x) and 0.8.5 or later (0.8.x). If patching is not possible, consider disabling AAC decoding or restricting media input to trusted sources.

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
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 11.10= 12.04= 12.10
ChromeWeb browser
Affected:<= 23.0.1271.96= 23.0.1271.0= 23.0.1271.1= 23.0.1271.2= 23.0.1271.3= 23.0.1271.4= 23.0.1271.5= 23.0.1271.6= 23.0.1271.7= 23.0.1271.8= 23.0.1271.9= 23.0.1271.10
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
OpensuseOperating system
Affected:= 12.1= 12.2

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. Check Google Chrome version
    Navigate to chrome://version or run 'google-chrome --version' in terminal
    Affected if Version is 23.0.1271.96 or earlier, or matches 23.0.1271.0 through 23.0.1271.10 specifically
  2. Check Libav version
    Run 'avconv -version' in terminal to display the Libav version number
    Affected if Version is 0.7.x through 0.7.6 or 0.8.x through 0.8.4
  3. Verify Ubuntu version for Chrome/Libav packages
    Run 'lsb_release -a' or check /etc/lsb-release to confirm Ubuntu version
    Affected if Running Ubuntu 11.10, 12.04, or 12.10 with vulnerable Chrome or Libav packages installed
  4. Check if AAC decoding is in use
    Monitor process activity or inspect media files being decoded; in Chrome, check chrome://media-internals for active audio streams
    Affected if AAC audio streams are being decoded using the vulnerable decoder component

Environment is affected if Google Chrome version 23.0.1271.96 or below (or 23.0.1271.0-10) or Libav version 0.7.6 or below (or 0.8.4 or below) is installed and AAC audio decoding is actively processing streams.

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 23.0.1271.96
Interim mitigation

Update Google Chrome to version 23.0.1271.97 or later, and Libav to version 0.7.7 or later (0.7.x) and 0.8.5 or later (0.8.x). If patching is not possible, consider disabling AAC decoding or restricting media input to trusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Chrome 23.0.1271.97+ | Libav 0.7.7+ / 0.8.5+ | Ubuntu 14.04 LTS or later | OpenSUSE 13.x or later

  1. For Google Chrome: Upgrade to Chrome version 23.0.1271.97 or later by using Chrome's built-in update feature (Help > About Google Chrome) or downloading from the official Chrome release channel.
  2. For Libav: Upgrade to Libav version 0.7.7 (for the 0.7.x branch) or version 0.8.5 or later (for the 0.8.x branch). On Linux systems, update via package manager: 'apt-get update && apt-get upgrade libav' or 'yum update libav'.
  3. For Ubuntu systems: Run 'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade' to receive security patches, or upgrade to a newer Ubuntu LTS release (14.04 or later) if the system is no longer supported.
  4. For OpenSUSE systems: Apply available security updates via 'zypper patch' or upgrade to a newer OpenSUSE version that receives active security support.
Caveat Very old software versions may have compatibility issues with newer libraries; test in staging environment before production deployment

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

Fix this in Ubuntu Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,120
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,192.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-5144 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2012-5144 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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