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FfmpegApplication

CVE-2012-5361

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-03-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 0.10.15 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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
Libavcodec in FFmpeg before 0.11 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted WMV 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

Libavcodec in FFmpeg versions before 0.11 contains a vulnerability that allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by crafting a malicious WMV (Windows Media Video) file. The vulnerability exists in the media parsing/decoding component when processing specially crafted WMV files.

MitigationUpgrade FFmpeg to version 0.11 or later to patch the arbitrary code execution vulnerability in Libavcodec.

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:<= 0.10.15

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/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 checks

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

  1. Identify installed FFmpeg version
    Run 'ffmpeg -version' or 'ffmpeg -buildversion' to display the version information
    Affected if The version displayed is 0.10.15 or earlier (any version <= 0.10.15)
  2. Check libavcodec library presence
    Run 'ffmpeg -codecs 2>&1 | grep -i wmv' or check for libavcodec shared library files (libavcodec.*) in the FFmpeg lib directory
    Affected if FFmpeg is compiled with libavcodec present and WMV decoders are listed in the available codecs
  3. Verify WMV decoding capability
    Run 'ffmpeg -decoders 2>&1' and look for wmv1, wmv2, wmv3, or similar WMV-related decoder entries
    Affected if WMV decoders are available in the installed FFmpeg build
  4. Test WMV file processing (if applicable)
    Attempt to probe a WMV file using 'ffprobe -i file.wmv' to confirm the demuxer and decoder are functional
    Affected if FFmpeg can process WMV files using the built-in libavcodec parsing/decoding components

The environment is affected if FFmpeg version 0.10.15 or earlier is installed AND libavcodec with WMV decoding capability is enabled, as the vulnerability lies in the WMV parsing/decoding component of libavcodec.

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 0.10.15
Interim mitigation

Upgrade FFmpeg to version 0.11 or later to patch the arbitrary code execution vulnerability in Libavcodec.

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
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,752.

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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-2012-5361 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