CVE-2026-17072 in GStreamer
Summary
by MITRE • 07/28/2026
A flaw was found in GStreamer's gst-plugins-good. A heap-based out-of-bounds read of 4 bytes can occur when parsing FLAC audio stream headers embedded in a Matroska or WebM container file. The vulnerability is triggered by a boundary check that does not account for the full size of the data being copied, allowing a small read past the end of the allocated buffer. An attacker could exploit this by crafting a malicious Matroska or WebM file and tricking a user into opening it, potentially leaking a small amount of adjacent heap memory.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/28/2026
This vulnerability resides within GStreamer's gst-plugins-good component, specifically affecting the parsing of FLAC audio streams contained within Matroska or WebM container formats. The flaw represents a classic heap-based out-of-bounds read condition that occurs during the processing of audio metadata headers, creating a potential information disclosure risk through memory leakage. Such vulnerabilities typically arise from insufficient input validation and boundary checking mechanisms within multimedia processing libraries that handle complex container formats with nested data structures.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from a boundary check that fails to account for the complete size requirements of the data being processed during FLAC header parsing. When the parser encounters a malformed or crafted Matroska or WebM file, it attempts to read 4 bytes beyond the allocated buffer boundaries, resulting in an out-of-bounds memory access pattern. This particular memory access pattern aligns with CWE-125, which describes out-of-bounds read conditions commonly found in multimedia processing components. The vulnerability manifests as a heap-based buffer overflow scenario where adjacent memory regions are inadvertently accessed and potentially exposed.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it creates potential attack vectors for more sophisticated exploitation techniques. An attacker could craft malicious container files that trigger the out-of-bounds read condition when processed by vulnerable GStreamer implementations, potentially leaking sensitive heap data including stack canaries, memory addresses, or other adjacent memory contents. This type of vulnerability is particularly concerning in multimedia applications that process untrusted content, as it represents a fundamental parsing flaw that could be leveraged for further exploitation attempts.
The attack scenario requires social engineering to convince users to open maliciously crafted files, making this vulnerability suitable for phishing campaigns or targeted attacks against systems processing multimedia content. The exploitation mechanism aligns with ATT&CK technique T1203, which covers exploitation of software vulnerabilities through crafted payloads, and demonstrates how seemingly benign media file processing can become a vector for information leakage. Organizations using GStreamer for multimedia processing, streaming services, or any system handling user-uploaded media files should consider this vulnerability as part of their security posture assessment.
Mitigation strategies should include immediate patching of affected GStreamer versions, implementation of input validation controls for container format parsing, and deployment of network-based intrusion detection systems that can identify suspicious media file patterns. Additionally, organizations should enforce strict content filtering policies and implement sandboxed processing environments for untrusted multimedia files to limit the potential impact of such vulnerabilities. Regular security assessments of multimedia processing pipelines and adherence to secure coding practices in audio/video handling components will help prevent similar boundary condition flaws from emerging in future implementations. The vulnerability underscores the importance of thorough input validation and boundary checking in multimedia libraries that handle complex container formats with nested data structures, particularly those used in enterprise and consumer streaming applications.