CVE-2012-2801 in FFmpeg
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in libavcodec/avs.c in FFmpeg before 0.11, and Libav 0.7.x before 0.7.7 and 0.8.x before 0.8.4, has unknown impact and attack vectors, related to dimensions and "out of array writes."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/13/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-2801 represents a critical security flaw affecting multimedia processing libraries within the FFmpeg and Libav ecosystems. This issue resides in the libavcodec/avs.c component which handles AVS (Audio Video Standard) format decoding operations. The vulnerability manifests through unspecified attack vectors that can lead to memory corruption during the processing of specially crafted AVS media files. The root cause lies in improper bounds checking mechanisms that fail to validate dimensional parameters and array access boundaries during video frame processing. Such flaws typically arise when developers do not adequately verify input parameters before performing memory operations, creating potential entry points for malicious actors to exploit.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-129, which addresses "Improper Validation of Array Index," and CWE-787, concerning "Out-of-bounds Write." These weaknesses enable attackers to manipulate the decoding process by crafting malicious AVS files that cause the software to write data beyond allocated memory buffers. The unspecified impact and attack vectors suggest that this vulnerability could potentially enable remote code execution, denial of service, or information disclosure depending on the specific implementation details and execution context. The vulnerability affects multiple versions of both FFmpeg and Libav, indicating a widespread issue that required coordinated patching across different software distributions. The AVS format processing code path becomes particularly dangerous when handling malformed dimensional parameters that bypass normal validation checks.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to multimedia applications, streaming services, and content processing systems that rely on FFmpeg or Libav for video decoding operations. Attackers could exploit this weakness by delivering malicious AVS content through various channels including email attachments, web downloads, or streaming platforms. The impact extends beyond simple application crashes to potentially allowing full system compromise through memory corruption exploits. Security analysts should note that this vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of input validation in multimedia processing libraries, as these components often handle untrusted data from various sources. The vulnerability's presence in widely-used libraries means that numerous downstream applications, including media players, content management systems, and streaming servers, could be affected by this flaw.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patching of affected software versions, implementing strict input validation measures, and deploying network monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts. Organizations should prioritize updating to patched versions of FFmpeg 0.11 or later, and Libav 0.7.7 or 0.8.4 and later releases where the vulnerability has been addressed. Additional defensive measures include implementing sandboxing techniques for multimedia processing, deploying intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious file handling patterns, and establishing robust input sanitization protocols for all media file processing operations. The vulnerability underscores the necessity of following secure coding practices such as those recommended in the OWASP Secure Coding Guidelines, particularly those addressing buffer overflow prevention and input validation. Security teams should also consider implementing application whitelisting and privilege separation mechanisms to limit potential damage from successful exploitation attempts.