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FfmpegApplication

CVE-2016-6164

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-01-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.8.7 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
Integer overflow in the mov_build_index function in libavformat/mov.c in FFmpeg before 2.8.8, 3.0.x before 3.0.3 and 3.1.x before 3.1.1 allows remote attackers to have unspecified impact via vectors involving sample size.

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

Integer overflow vulnerability in FFmpeg's mov_build_index function (libavformat/mov.c) allows remote attackers to trigger heap corruption via specially crafted MOV media files with malicious sample size values. The overflow occurs when calculating memory allocation sizes for index building, potentially enabling arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpgrade FFmpeg to version 2.8.8, 3.0.3, 3.1.1 or later. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, restrict untrusted MOV file processing and implement file type validation 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:<= 2.8.7= 3.0= 3.0.1= 3.0.2= 3.1

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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. Check installed FFmpeg version
    Run 'ffmpeg -version' to display the version number. Alternatively, check the library file version for libavformat (for example, 'ffprobe -version' or inspect the shared library file properties).
    Affected if The version displayed is 2.8.7 or earlier, or exactly 3.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2, or 3.1.
  2. Verify MOV demuxer is enabled
    Run 'ffmpeg -formats 2>/dev/null | grep -i mov' or 'ffprobe -formats 2>/dev/null | grep -i mov' to list supported formats. Look for 'mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2' in the demuxer list.
    Affected if MOV is listed as a supported demuxer format in the FFmpeg build.
  3. Confirm the mov.c library is present
    Locate the libavformat installation: check '/usr/lib/libavformat.so*' on Linux or inspect the FFmpeg installation directory on Windows. Verify that mov.c is compiled into the library (for example, check the binary's strings for 'mov_build_index' if debugging symbols exist).
    Affected if The libavformat library contains the MOV parsing code and the mov_build_index function is present in the binary.
  4. Identify if processing untrusted MOV files is occurring
    Review application logs, file processing pipelines, or service configurations that invoke FFmpeg to process MOV files. Look for inputs originating from untrusted sources such as user uploads, external APIs, or network paths.
    Affected if FFmpeg is being used to parse MOV files from untrusted or external sources without prior validation.

Your environment is affected if the installed FFmpeg version falls within 2.8.7 or earlier, or 3.0 through 3.1 inclusive, and you process MOV files using that FFmpeg instance.

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 2.8.7
Interim mitigation

Upgrade FFmpeg to version 2.8.8, 3.0.3, 3.1.1 or later. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, restrict untrusted MOV file processing and implement file type validation before passing to FFmpeg.

Recommended fix High confidence

FFmpeg 2.8.8, 3.0.3, 3.1.1, or latest stable release

  1. 1. Check current FFmpeg version by running: ffmpeg -version
  2. 2. If using FFmpeg 2.8.x branch, upgrade to version 2.8.8 or later
  3. 3. If using FFmpeg 3.0.x branch, upgrade to version 3.0.3 or later
  4. 4. If using FFmpeg 3.1.x branch, upgrade to version 3.1.1 or later
  5. 5. Alternatively, upgrade to the latest stable release (recommended)
  6. 6. Verify the upgrade was successful by running: ffmpeg -version
Caveat No specific breaking changes mentioned in CVE description; however, test your workflows after upgrading

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

Fix this in Ffmpeg Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,560
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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-2016-6164 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data