CVE-2015-8217
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 · uneditedThe ff_hevc_parse_sps function in libavcodec/hevc_ps.c in FFmpeg before 2.8.2 does not validate the Chroma Format Indicator, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds array access) or possibly have unspecified other impact via crafted High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) 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 ff_hevc_parse_sps function in FFmpeg's HEVC/H.265 parser (libavcodec/hevc_ps.c) fails to validate the Chroma Format Indicator field from the Sequence Parameter Set before using it to access internal arrays, allowing crafted HEVC streams to trigger out-of-bounds memory access leading to denial of service or potentially 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<= 2.8.1CVSS 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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Determine installed FFmpeg versionRun 'ffmpeg -version' and locate the version number in the output (e.g., 'ffmpeg version 2.8.0' or 'ffmpeg version 2.8.1').Affected if The version listed is 2.8.1 or earlier.
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Verify HEVC/H.265 support is enabledRun 'ffmpeg -codecs | grep -i hevc' or 'ffmpeg -decoders | grep -i hevc' to confirm the HEVC decoder is compiled into the build.Affected if HEVC decoder is listed and available in the build.
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Identify HEVC/H.265 file processingLocate media files in your environment that contain HEVC/H.265 streams. Use 'ffprobe -v error -show_entries stream=codec_name -of default=noprint_wrappers=1:<file>' to check if a specific file contains HEVC video.Affected if HEVC streams are being processed or can be processed by this FFmpeg installation.
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Check if untrusted HEVC sources are processedReview logs, transcoding pipelines, or applications that use this FFmpeg installation to process HEVC streams from external or untrusted sources.Affected if The FFmpeg installation processes HEVC streams from sources you do not fully control.
You are affected if your FFmpeg version is 2.8.1 or earlier, HEVC decoding is enabled, and you process HEVC/H.265 streams (especially from untrusted sources).
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 to FFmpeg version 2.8.2 or later. If upgrade is not possible, avoid processing HEVC streams from untrusted sources.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-8217 — 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-2015-8217 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
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