dbcve.org
GstreamerApplication

CVE-2023-50186

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.22.8 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
GStreamer AV1 Video Parsing Stack-based Buffer Overflow Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of GStreamer. Interaction with this library is required to exploit this vulnerability but attack vectors may vary depending on the implementation. The specific flaw exists within the parsing of metadata within AV1 encoded video files. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of the length of user-supplied data prior to copying it to a fixed-length stack-based buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-22300.

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

This is a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in GStreamer's AV1 video parser. The flaw exists in the metadata parsing logic where user-supplied data length is not validated before being copied to a fixed-size stack buffer, allowing overflow and potential RCE when processing malicious AV1 video files.

MitigationUpdate GStreamer to patched version when available; validate AV1 file metadata before processing; consider sandboxing media processing pipelines.

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
GstreamerApplication
Affected:< 1.22.8

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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. Confirm GStreamer installation
    Run 'gst-inspect-1.0 --version' or 'gst-launch-1.0 --version' to get the installed GStreamer version number
    Affected if Installed version is less than 1.22.8
  2. Identify AV1 parser component
    Run 'gst-inspect-1.0 av1dec' or search for AV1-related GStreamer plugins in the plugin directory (typically /usr/lib/gstreamer-1.0/ or /usr/local/lib/gstreamer-1.0/)
    Affected if AV1 decoding plugin exists and is loadable by GStreamer
  3. Check if untrusted AV1 files are processed
    Review application logs, workflow documentation, or pipeline configurations that ingest AV1 video input from external or untrusted sources
    Affected if The environment processes AV1 video files from external or untrusted sources using GStreamer
  4. Identify metadata parsing pathways
    Examine any custom or third-party GStreamer elements that handle AV1 container metadata, or trace which pipeline elements handle bitstream parsing (such as 'av1parse' if present)
    Affected if AV1 metadata parsing elements or custom parsers are in the media processing pipeline

The environment is affected if GStreamer version is below 1.22.8 and the system processes AV1 video files through GStreamer's parsing pipeline.

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 1.22.8 or later
Fixed in 1.22.8
Interim mitigation

Update GStreamer to patched version when available; validate AV1 file metadata before processing; consider sandboxing media processing pipelines.

Recommended fix High confidence

1.22.8 or later

  1. 1. Identify all systems and applications that use GStreamer for video processing
  2. 2. Check current GStreamer version using: gst-inspect-1.0 --version or rpm -q gstreamer1 (RHEL) / dpkg -l libgstreamer* (Debian)
  3. 3. Update GStreamer packages to version 1.22.8 or later
  4. 4. For RHEL/CentOS: sudo yum update gstreamer1* or sudo dnf update gstreamer1*
  5. 5. For Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt update && sudo apt install --upgrade gstreamer1.0*
  6. 6. For Fedora: sudo dnf update gstreamer2* gstreamer1*
  7. 7. Verify the update was successful by checking: gst-inspect-1.0 --version
  8. 8. Rebuild any applications that statically link against GStreamer libraries
Caveat GStreamer 1.22.x series may have API/ABI changes from 1.20.x; review release notes for plugin compatibility and deprecated features before upgrading production systems

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

Fix this in Gstreamer Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,888.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-50186 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2023-50186 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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