dbcve.org
GstreamerApplication

CVE-2026-2921

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.28.1 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
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 RIFF Palette Integer 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 handling of palette data in AVI files. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can result in an integer overflow before writing to memory. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-28854.

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 in GStreamer's RIFF palette handling when processing AVI files allows attackers to write beyond allocated buffer boundaries. The lack of proper validation on user-supplied palette data size before arithmetic operations enables memory corruption that can lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current process.

MitigationUpdate GStreamer to the latest version containing the patch for this vulnerability. Until patched, avoid opening untrusted AVI files with GStreamer-based applications and consider applying sandboxing to limit process privileges.

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:< 1.28.1

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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. Identify installed GStreamer version
    Run 'gst-inspect-1.0 --version' or 'gst-launch-1.0 --version' to retrieve the GStreamer library version installed on the system
    Affected if The version number returned is less than 1.28.1
  2. Verify GStreamer core libraries version
    Check the version of libgstreamer-1.0.so by running 'pkg-config --modversion gstreamer-1.0' or inspecting the shared library file directly
    Affected if The library version is below 1.28.1
  3. Confirm AVI file handling is enabled
    Run 'gst-inspect-1.0 avidemux' or 'gst-inspect-1.0 riff' to verify the AVI parsing plugins are installed and available
    Affected if AVI demuxer or RIFF parser plugins are present and loaded by GStreamer, indicating the vulnerable code path could be reached
  4. Check for AVI file processing activity
    Review any application logs, traffic captures, or user reports indicating GStreamer has processed untrusted AVI files, or inspect system for applications using GStreamer to decode AVI content
    Affected if The system or any hosted application uses GStreamer to process AVI files from untrusted sources

The environment is affected if GStreamer version is below 1.28.1 AND the system processes or could process AVI files using GStreamer's AVI/RIFF handling components.

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 1.28.1 or later
Fixed in 1.28.1
Interim mitigation

Update GStreamer to the latest version containing the patch for this vulnerability. Until patched, avoid opening untrusted AVI files with GStreamer-based applications and consider applying sandboxing to limit process privileges.

Recommended fix High confidence

GStreamer 1.28.1 or later

  1. 1. Identify the current GStreamer version installed on the system using `gst-inspect-1.0 --version` or checking the package manager.
  2. 2. Upgrade GStreamer to version 1.28.1 or later. For systems using package managers: On Debian/Ubuntu: `sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade gstreamer1.0-*`; On RHEL/CentOS/Fedora: `sudo dnf update gstreamer*` or `sudo yum update gstreamer*`; On openSUSE: `sudo zypper update gstreamer*`.
  3. 3. After upgrade, verify the installed version meets the minimum requirement of 1.28.1 using `gst-inspect-1.0 --version`.
  4. 4. Test media processing functionality to ensure the update was successful and does not break existing workflows.
Caveat Minor: Upgrading within the same major release branch (1.x) typically has low risk of breaking changes, but test critical media pipelines after applying the update.

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
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-2921 — 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-2026-2921 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