CVE-2012-5360
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 · uneditedLibavcodec in FFmpeg before 0.11 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted QT 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 · moderate confidenceLibavcodec in FFmpeg versions before 0.11 contains a vulnerability in its QuickTime file parsing code that allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a specially crafted QT file. This is likely a memory corruption issue such as a buffer overflow in the QuickTime 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< 0.11CVSS 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
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine if FFmpeg is installedRun 'ffmpeg -version' or check your system's package manager for ffmpeg packagesAffected if ffmpeg is not installed or the command returns not found, the system is not vulnerable to this specific FFmpeg issue
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Identify the installed FFmpeg versionExecute 'ffmpeg -version' and locate the version number in the output (format typically shows as x.x.x or similar)Affected if The version number is less than 0.11 (for example, 0.10.x, 0.9.x, or earlier), the installed version is within the affected range
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Verify libavcodec presenceRun 'ffmpeg -codecs' or 'ffprobe -version' to confirm libavcodec is available, or check package manager for libavcodec-dev or libavcodec-extra packagesAffected if libavcodec is present and the parent FFmpeg version is below 0.11, the component containing the vulnerable QuickTime parser is installed
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Confirm QuickTime demuxer or decoder is availableRun 'ffmpeg -formats | grep -i qt' or 'ffmpeg -formats | grep -i quicktime' to list supported QuickTime-related formatsAffected if QuickTime (qt) demuxing or decoding support is enabled, the vulnerable parsing code path could be triggered
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Assess exposure to untrusted QuickTime filesReview application logs, proxy configurations, or file processing workflows to determine if the system processes QuickTime files from untrusted or external sourcesAffected if The system or applications using this FFmpeg instance routinely process QuickTime files from untrusted sources, the exploit conditions are present
The environment is affected if FFmpeg (or a libav-based fork) version 0.11 or higher is not installed AND QuickTime file processing capability is enabled and used with untrusted files.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 data0.11
Upgrade FFmpeg to version 0.11 or later to obtain the security patch. If immediate upgrading is not feasible, restrict processing of untrusted QuickTime files and implement input validation at application boundaries.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-5360 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2012-5360 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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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