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FfmpegApplication

CVE-2014-9317

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-12-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.1.5 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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 decode_ihdr_chunk function in libavcodec/pngdec.c in FFMpeg before 2.1.6, 2.2.x through 2.3.x, and 2.4.x before 2.4.4 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds heap access) and possibly have other unspecified impact via an IDAT before an IHDR in a PNG 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

Out-of-bounds heap access vulnerability in FFMpeg's PNG decoder (libavcodec/pngdec.c). The decode_ihdr_chunk function fails to validate chunk ordering, allowing an IDAT chunk to be processed before IHDR, resulting in heap memory corruption when parsing maliciously crafted PNG files.

MitigationUpgrade FFMpeg to version 2.1.6, 2.4.4, or later. Until then, avoid processing untrusted PNG files with vulnerable versions.

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:<= 2.1.5= 2.2= 2.2.4= 2.3= 2.3.2= 2.3.3= 2.3.4= 2.3.5= 2.4= 2.4.1= 2.4.2= 2.4.3

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify installed FFMpeg version
    Run 'ffmpeg -version' or 'avconv -version' and note the version number in the output
    Affected if Version matches <= 2.1.5, 2.2, 2.2.4, 2.3, 2.3.2, 2.3.3, 2.3.4, 2.3.5, 2.4, 2.4.1, 2.4.2, or 2.4.3
  2. Confirm PNG decoder is present
    Run 'ffmpeg -codecs | grep -i png' or check if libavcodec/pngdec.c is part of the build
    Affected if PNG decoder (png) is listed as available encoding or decoding capability
  3. Verify PNG file processing capability
    Run 'ffmpeg -formats | grep -i png' to confirm PNG format support is compiled in
    Affected if PNG demuxer/decoder is available in the build
  4. Check for active PNG processing
    Review any automated media processing pipelines, thumbnail generators, or transcoding jobs that handle PNG input files
    Affected if The system or application processes PNG files using this FFMpeg installation

You are affected if FFMpeg version matches the vulnerable list AND the PNG decoder is enabled and actively processing PNG 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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.1.5
Interim mitigation

Upgrade FFMpeg to version 2.1.6, 2.4.4, or later. Until then, avoid processing untrusted PNG files with vulnerable versions.

Fix this in Ffmpeg Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,920
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,072.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2014-9317 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
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