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FfmpegApplication

CVE-2013-0873

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-11-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.1.2 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
The read_header function in libavcodec/shorten.c in FFmpeg before 1.1.3 allows remote attackers to have an unspecified impact via an invalid channel count, related to "freeing invalid addresses."

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

A memory corruption vulnerability in FFmpeg's libavcodec/shorten.c read_header function allows remote attackers to trigger freeing of invalid memory addresses via a specially crafted audio file with an invalid channel count. The lack of proper validation on the channel count parameter before a free() operation leads to use-after-free or double-free conditions with potential for arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpgrade FFmpeg to version 1.1.3 or later, which contains the fix for proper channel count validation before memory operations. Alternatively, implement input validation at the application layer to reject audio files with invalid channel parameters before passing to FFmpeg.

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:<= 1.1.2= 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 FFmpeg version
    Run 'ffmpeg -version' or check the libavcodec library version with 'pkg-config --modversion libavcodec' or inspect the binary with 'ffmpeg -version 2>&1 | head -1'
    Affected if The installed version is 0.3.x, 0.4.x, 0.4.2, 0.4.3, 0.4.4, 0.4.5, 0.4.6, or any version up to and including 1.1.2
  2. Confirm shorten codec availability
    Run 'ffmpeg -codecs 2>&1 | grep -i shorten' or 'ffmpeg -decoders 2>&1 | grep -i shorten' to check if the shorten audio decoder is compiled into the FFmpeg build
    Affected if The shorten decoder is present and enabled in the FFmpeg build, indicating the vulnerable code path could be triggered
  3. Identify libavcodec version
    Check the shared library version with 'ldd $(which ffmpeg) 2>/dev/null | grep avcodec' or 'dpkg -l | grep libavcodec' on Debian-based systems, or 'rpm -qa | grep libavcodec' on RHEL-based systems
    Affected if The libavcodec library version matches the affected FFmpeg version ranges listed (0.3.x through 1.1.2)
  4. Check for active shorten audio processing
    Review any running applications or services that use FFmpeg to process audio files, and inspect any audio files with the .shn (Shorten) extension currently being processed or recently processed
    Affected if A shorten-encoded audio file with a malformed channel count is processed by the affected FFmpeg version, triggering the vulnerable code path

You are affected if your installed FFmpeg or libavcodec version falls within 0.3.x, 0.4.x (including 0.4.2-0.4.6), or 0.x through 1.1.2, and the shorten decoder is enabled and processing audio files.

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 1.1.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade FFmpeg to version 1.1.3 or later, which contains the fix for proper channel count validation before memory operations. Alternatively, implement input validation at the application layer to reject audio files with invalid channel parameters before passing to FFmpeg.

Recommended fix High confidence

FFmpeg 1.1.3 or later stable release

  1. Identify the current FFmpeg version by running 'ffmpeg -version' or 'avconv -version'
  2. Confirm the installed version is one of the affected versions: <= 1.1.2, 0.3, 0.3.1, or 0.3.2
  3. Download FFmpeg 1.1.3 or a later stable release from the official FFmpeg website (www.ffmpeg.org) or your distribution's package repository
  4. For source compilation: download the source from git.videolan.org or a release archive, then compile and install following standard build instructions
  5. For package managers: use your distribution's upgrade command (e.g., 'apt-get update && apt-get upgrade ffmpeg', 'yum update ffmpeg', or 'brew upgrade ffmpeg')
  6. Verify the new version is installed by running 'ffmpeg -version' and confirm it shows version 1.1.3 or later
  7. Test that FFmpeg functions correctly with your workflows
Caveat Review the FFmpeg 1.1.3 changelog for any decoding/encoding changes that may affect existing workflows; minor API changes possible

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

Fix this in Ffmpeg Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,760
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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-2013-0873 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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