CVE-2017-10699
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 · uneditedavcodec 2.2.x, as used in VideoLAN VLC media player 2.2.7-x before 2017-06-29, allows out-of-bounds heap memory write due to calling memcpy() with a wrong size, leading to a denial of service (application crash) or possibly code execution.
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 confidenceA heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in avcodec 2.2.x where memcpy() is called with an incorrect size parameter, causing out-of-bounds memory writes. This memory corruption in the VLC media player 2.2.7-x can lead to denial of service via application crash or potentially allow remote 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= 2.2.0= 2.2.1= 2.2.2= 2.2.3= 2.2.4= 2.2.5= 2.2.5.1= 2.2.6= 2.2.7CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Identify VLC installation path and binaryRun 'where vlc' on Windows or 'which vlc' on Linux/macOS to locate the VLC executable. Alternatively, check common installation directories.Affected if VLC executable is found on the system
-
Determine installed VLC versionRun 'vlc --version' or right-click the VLC executable, select Properties, and check the Details tab for the File Version.Affected if The version displayed is any of: 2.2.0, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.2.3, 2.2.4, 2.2.5, 2.2.5.1, 2.2.6, or 2.2.7
-
Confirm avcodec library version in useOn Windows, check the 'plugins' folder inside the VLC installation directory for avcodec DLL version. On Linux, run 'dpkg -l | grep libavcodec' or check /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/ for libavcodec.so versions.Affected if The avcodec library version is 2.2.x matching the affected VLC versions (the vulnerability is in the bundled avcodec within these VLC releases)
If VLC Media Player version 2.2.0 through 2.2.7 is installed with its bundled avcodec 2.2.x library, the system is vulnerable to heap-based buffer overflow via malicious media file processing.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade VLC media player to version 2.2.7 or later (post-2017-06-29) which contains the patched avcodec library, or update avcodec to a version that corrects the memcpy size validation.
VLC Media Player 2.2.7 or later (or current stable release)
- Check the current VLC Media Player version by opening VLC and navigating to Help > About VLC, or by running 'vlc --version' from command line
- Visit the official VideoLAN VLC download page at www.videolan.org
- Download the latest stable VLC Media Player version (2.2.7 or later, or the current stable release)
- Uninstall the existing vulnerable VLC version (2.2.x series) from the system
- Install the downloaded fixed version of VLC Media Player
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,472.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-10699 — 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-2017-10699 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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