Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2022-38866
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 · uneditedCertain The MPlayer Project products are vulnerable to Buffer Overflow via read_avi_header() of libmpdemux/aviheader.c . This affects mplayer SVN-r38374-13.0.1 and mencoder SVN-r38374-13.0.1.
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 confidenceA buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the read_avi_header() function in libmpdemux/aviheader.c of MPlayer and mencoder SVN-r38374-13.0.1. The vulnerability occurs during AVI file header parsing due to insufficient bounds checking, allowing potential code execution or denial of service when processing specially crafted AVI 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
= 10.0= svn-r38374-13.0.1= svn-r38374-13.0.1CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 MPlayer is installedRun 'mplayer -version' or 'which mplayer' to locate the executable and obtain version informationAffected if MPlayer version matches svn-r38374-13.0.1 or earlier Debian 10.0 packages
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Check if mencoder is installedRun 'mencoder -version' or 'which mencoder' to locate the executable and obtain version informationAffected if Mencoder version matches svn-r38374-13.0.1 or earlier Debian 10.0 packages
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Identify the installed package version on DebianRun 'dpkg -l | grep mplayer' or 'apt-cache policy mplayer' to check the installed package version on Debian systemsAffected if Package version is the vulnerable Debian 10.0 release
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Verify AVI demuxer module is presentCheck for the existence of libmpdemux/aviheader.c in the source if compiled from source, or verify the binary supports AVI via 'mplayer -msglevel help 2>&1 | grep -i avi' or by attempting to play a valid AVI fileAffected if AVI support is compiled into the installation and the application can process AVI files
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Check for vulnerable binary existenceLocate the mplayer or mencoder binary and verify its build configuration includes the vulnerable aviheader.c component, or check source code version in /usr/src or build logs if availableAffected if The binary was built from or includes the svn-r38374-13.0.1 codebase containing the vulnerable read_avi_header() function
You are affected if MPlayer or mencoder version is svn-r38374-13.0.1 or the Debian 10.0 package, and the application has AVI file processing capability enabled.
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 dataUpdate to a patched version of MPlayer/mencoder when available. Until then, avoid opening untrusted or specially crafted AVI files from unknown sources, as the vulnerability is triggerable through normal file processing.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing5.0 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 $4,752.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-38866 — 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-2022-38866 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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