CVE-2012-2805 in FFmpeg
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in FFMPEG 0.10 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/17/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-2805 affects FFMPEG version 0.10 and represents a remote denial of service condition that can be exploited by attackers without requiring authentication or specialized privileges. This flaw exists within the multimedia processing framework that is widely deployed across various operating systems and applications for handling audio and video content. The unspecified nature of the vulnerability indicates that the exact technical mechanism remains undocumented in the public domain, though such classifications typically point to issues within input validation or memory handling within the software's processing pipeline. The vulnerability impacts systems that utilize FFMPEG for media file processing, conversion, or streaming operations, making it particularly concerning given FFMPEG's extensive adoption in both commercial and open source applications.
FFMPEG serves as a critical component in digital media infrastructure, processing various codecs and container formats including but not limited to mp4, avi, mov, and mkv files. The denial of service aspect suggests that remote attackers can craft malicious media files or streams that, when processed by the vulnerable FFMPEG version, trigger system instability or resource exhaustion. This could manifest through memory corruption, infinite loops, or other processing anomalies that prevent legitimate operations from completing successfully. The attack vector typically involves sending specially crafted media content to a system running the vulnerable software, which then attempts to process this content and fails, resulting in service unavailability for legitimate users.
The operational impact of CVE-2012-2805 extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially affect critical infrastructure where media processing is essential. Organizations relying on FFMPEG for content management systems, streaming platforms, or media servers could experience significant downtime or reduced service quality. The vulnerability affects both server-side applications that process user uploads and client-side applications that handle media playback, creating a broad attack surface. System administrators may observe increased resource consumption, application crashes, or complete service outages when the vulnerability is exploited, particularly in environments handling high volumes of media content or where FFMPEG is integrated into automated processing workflows.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability primarily involve upgrading to patched versions of FFMPEG, as the software maintainers would have addressed the underlying issue through code modifications or input validation improvements. Organizations should implement comprehensive patch management procedures to ensure all instances of FFMPEG are updated promptly. Additionally, deploying input validation measures such as file format checking, size limitations, and content scanning can help reduce the risk of exploitation. Network segmentation and access controls can limit the potential impact of successful attacks by restricting access to vulnerable systems. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-119, which addresses weaknesses in memory handling, and could potentially map to ATT&CK techniques involving privilege escalation or resource exhaustion within the execution and persistence phases of an attack lifecycle. Organizations should also consider implementing monitoring solutions to detect anomalous processing patterns or resource consumption that might indicate exploitation attempts.