CVE-2013-4388
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 · uneditedBuffer overflow in the mp4a packetizer (modules/packetizer/mpeg4audio.c) in VideoLAN VLC Media Player before 2.0.8 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in the mp4a packetizer (mpeg4audio.c) of VLC Media Player versions prior to 2.0.8. The overflow occurs during MPEG-4 audio packet processing and can be triggered by specially crafted media files, leading to denial of service via crash and potential arbitrary code execution.
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<= 2.0.7= 2.0.0= 2.0.1= 2.0.2= 2.0.3= 2.0.4= 2.0.5= 2.0.6CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate VLC Media Player installationCheck common installation paths: Windows (C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe), macOS (/Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/VLC), Linux (run 'which vlc' or check /usr/bin/vlc).Affected if VLC Media Player is found installed on the system
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Determine installed VLC versionRun 'vlc --version' from command line, or on Windows right-click vlc.exe and select Properties > Details > File Version. On macOS, right-click VLC.app > Get Info > Version.Affected if Version is 2.0.0, 2.0.1, 2.0.2, 2.0.3, 2.0.4, 2.0.5, 2.0.6, or 2.0.7 (any version <= 2.0.7)
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Verify MPEG-4 audio packetizer module is presentConfirm the mpeg4audio module exists in the VLC modules directory. On Windows this is typically in the installation folder under /modules. This module handles mp4a packet processing.Affected if The mpeg4audio packetizer module is present and loaded by VLC
You are affected if VLC Media Player version 2.0.0 through 2.0.7 is installed and the MPEG-4 audio packetizer module is available, as the buffer overflow exists in that specific component.
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 dataUpgrade VLC Media Player to version 2.0.8 or later, which contains the patch for this vulnerability. Until patched, avoid opening untrusted MPEG-4 audio/video files from unknown sources.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-4388 — 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-2013-4388 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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