Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical
CVE-2014-8541
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/mjpegdec.c in FFmpeg before 2.4.2 considers only dimension differences, and not bits-per-pixel differences, when determining whether an image size has changed, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds access) or possibly have unspecified other impact via crafted MJPEG data.
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 confidenceThe vulnerability exists in libavcodec/mjpegdec.c where the decoder only checks width and height changes when determining if image dimensions have changed, but fails to also check bits-per-pixel (bpp) differences. This mismatch causes incorrect buffer size calculations when processing crafted MJPEG data, leading to out-of-bounds memory access and potential 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
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
= 12.04<= 2.4.1= 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= 0.4.6CVSS 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
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/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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Identify installed FFmpeg versionRun 'ffmpeg -version' or 'avconv -version' to display the version string. Look for the release number (e.g., 2.4.1, 0.3.4, 0.4.6).Affected if The version displayed is <= 2.4.1, or matches any of: 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, or is Ubuntu 12.04 default package.
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Locate libavcodec library fileSearch for the shared library: 'find /usr -name 'libavcodec*' 2>/dev/null' or check 'ldconfig -p | grep avcodec'. Note the full path.Affected if The library file exists on the system, indicating FFmpeg/libavcodec is installed.
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Verify MJPEG decoding capabilityRun 'ffmpeg -decoders 2>/dev/null | grep -i mjpeg' or 'avconv -decoders 2>/dev/null | grep -i mjpeg' to list MJPEG-related decoders.Affected if Any mjpeg decoder is listed as available, indicating the vulnerable component could be used.
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Check for active MJPEG processingInspect running processes or recent logs for commands using MJPEG input (e.g., files with .mjpeg, .avi, .mov extensions processed with video decoding). Use 'ps aux | grep ffmpeg' or review application logs.Affected if FFmpeg/libav is actively decoding video files, particularly MJPEG streams, at the time of inspection or recently.
You are affected if FFmpeg or libav version is one of the vulnerable releases listed AND the MJPEG decoder is or was used to process content.
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 FFmpeg to version 2.4.2 or later, which contains the fix for properly validating both dimension and bits-per-pixel differences in the MJPEG decoder.
Fix this in Ubuntu Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-8541 — 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-2014-8541 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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