CVE-2026-52718
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 · uneditedA denial of service vulnerability was found in GStreamer's AV1 codec parser in gst-plugins-bad. The gst_av1_parser_parse_tile_list_obu() function passes a byte count to a bit-reader API that expects a bit count, causing parser desynchronization. A remote attacker could trick a user into opening a specially crafted AV1 media file, triggering an assertion abort and causing the application to crash.
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 denial of service vulnerability exists in GStreamer's AV1 codec parser (gst-plugins-bad) where the gst_av1_parser_parse_tile_list_obu() function incorrectly passes a byte count to a bit-reader API that expects a bit count. This type mismatch causes parser desynchronization, leading to an assertion abort and application crash when processing a specially crafted AV1 media file.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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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Verify GStreamer is installedRun 'gst-inspect-1.0 --version' or check for gstreamer1.0 packages via package managerAffected if GStreamer is not installed - the environment is not affected by this CVE
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Check if gst-plugins-bad is installedRun 'gst-inspect-1.0 av1' or list installed plugins with 'gst-inspect-1.0 -l' and look for av1parse in the bad pluginsAffected if gst-plugins-bad or av1parse plugin is not installed - the environment is not affected
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Determine gst-plugins-bad versionRun 'dpkg -l | grep gst-plugins-bad' (Debian) or 'rpm -qa | grep gst-plugins-bad' (RHEL) or check the plugin's build version via 'gst-inspect-1.0 av1parse'Affected if The installed version matches or precedes the vulnerable version of gst-plugins-bad containing the bug in gst_av1_parser_parse_tile_list_obu()
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Confirm AV1 parsing capability is availableRun 'gst-inspect-1.0 av1parse' to verify the AV1 parser plugin loads successfullyAffected if The av1parse plugin loads without errors - AV1 parsing is active and could be triggered by a malicious file
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Identify processes handling untrusted AV1 inputReview running processes that use GStreamer for media handling (e.g., video players, transcoders, browser media pipelines) with 'ps aux | grep -i gstreamer' or check application logs for GStreamer usageAffected if Applications process AV1 media from untrusted sources - they could be triggered by specially crafted files
The environment is affected if GStreamer with gst-plugins-bad containing the vulnerable AV1 parser is installed and processes AV1 media from untrusted sources.
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 gst-plugins-bad to a version containing the fix for this byte-count-to-bit-count parameter error, or implement input validation to reject malformed AV1 tile list OBUs before they reach the parser.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-52718 — 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-2026-52718 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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