Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2020-20450
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 · uneditedFFmpeg 4.2 is affected by null pointer dereference passed as argument to libavformat/aviobuf.c, which could cause a Denial of Service.
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 · moderate confidenceFFmpeg 4.2 contains a null pointer dereference vulnerability in libavformat/aviobuf.c where an uninitialized or NULL pointer is passed as an argument, leading to a crash and potential Denial of Service when processing malformed input files.
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
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 11.0= 4.2CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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.
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Check if FFmpeg is installedRun `ffmpeg -version` or `which ffmpeg` to verify FFmpeg is present on the systemAffected if FFmpeg is not installed on the system, so this CVE does not apply
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Identify the installed FFmpeg versionRun `ffmpeg -version` and locate the version number in the output (for example: ffmpeg version 4.2 or ffmpeg version 4.2.x)Affected if The installed version is exactly 4.2 (any subversion like 4.2.1, 4.2.2, etc. may also be affected)
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Verify the libavformat component versionRun `ffmpeg -version 2>&1 | grep -i libavformat` or check package manager output (dpkg -l | grep ffmpeg or rpm -qa | grep ffmpeg)Affected if The libavformat library bundled with this FFmpeg version matches version 4.2 and is therefore potentially vulnerable
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Confirm the vulnerable code path can be reachedThe vulnerability in libavformat/aviobuf.c is triggered when FFmpeg processes malformed input files (especially via aviobuf operations). Test by attempting to process a crafted/malformed media file if available, or note that any future processing of untrusted media files could trigger the null pointer dereferenceAffected if The system processes untrusted or malformed input files using this FFmpeg installation
A system is affected if FFmpeg version 4.2 (including point releases) is installed and processes malformed input files, as the null pointer dereference in libavformat/aviobuf.c will cause a crash.
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 a version beyond 4.2 that includes the security patch for this vulnerability, or apply the relevant patch to add proper null pointer validation in the affected aviobuf.c code paths.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-20450 — 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-2020-20450 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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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
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