Gstreamer
CVE-2017-5841
HIGH
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2021 - Vulnerable and Outdated Components
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Bounds checking, read limits
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Collection The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Impact | The CVSS 3.0 score of 7.5 (High) reflects network-based attack vector with low complexity requiring no privileges or user interaction (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N), resulting in high availability impact (A:H) but no confidentiality or integrity impact. However, real-world exploitation risk is tempered by the EPSS score of 3.11% (87th percentile), indicating moderate probability of active exploitation. The attack requires the victim to process a malicious AVI file, which limits automatic exploitation but remains feasible through social engineering, malicious websites, or email attachments. Given the availability of patches since February 2017, widespread vendor adoption (Debian DSA-3820, Red Hat RHSA-2017:2060, Gentoo GLSA-201705-10), and no KEV listing or evidence of widespread exploitation, this represents a moderate priority issue primarily relevant for systems processing untrusted media content. The high CVSS score reflects maximum theoretical impact rather than practical exploitation likelihood. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker crafts a malicious AVI video file containing specially-formed ncdt tags designed to trigger the out-of-bounds heap read in gst_avi_demux_parse_ncdt. The attacker distributes this file through email attachments, file-sharing platforms, or embeds it in a webpage, relying on the victim's system with vulnerable GStreamer to automatically or manually process the file. When the victim opens the file or a media player attempts to parse it, the application crashes due to the memory violation, resulting in denial of service. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Mar 17, 2026
An out-of-bounds heap read vulnerability exists in the gst_avi_demux_parse_ncdt function within the GStreamer gst-plugins-good component when parsing malformed AVI files containing crafted ncdt tags. GStreamer versions prior to 1.10.3 are affected, allowing remote attackers to cause denial of service without authentication or user interaction. With an EPSS score of 3.11% (87th percentile), the vulnerability shows moderate real-world exploitation likelihood, and patches are available from the vendor.
RemediationAI
Upgrade GStreamer to version 1.10.3 or later as documented in the official release advisory at https://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/releases/1.10/#1.10.3. Linux distribution users should apply vendor-specific patches through their package managers: Debian users should reference DSA-3820, Red Hat Enterprise Linux users should apply RHSA-2017:2060, and Gentoo users should follow GLSA-201705-10. The patch details are available via the oss-security mailing list at http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/02/02/9. Until patching is feasible, limit exposure by restricting processing of untrusted AVI files, implementing application sandboxing, and blocking network-based media file processing from untrusted sources through content filtering or application whitelisting policies.
Affects your stack
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Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
GStreamer is a widely-used multimedia framework for constructing graphs of media-handling components, from simple playback to complex audio and video processing. The vulnerability affects cpe:2.3:a:gstreamer:gstreamer versions prior to 1.10.3, specifically within the gst-plugins-good package's AVI demuxer component (gstavidemux.c). The root cause is CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read), occurring when the gst_avi_demux_parse_ncdt function improperly validates ncdt (Nikon capture data tags) within AVI container files, allowing reads beyond allocated heap memory boundaries. This type of memory safety issue can lead to information disclosure or application crashes when processing untrusted media files.
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- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
The gst_avi_demux_parse_ncdt function in gst/avi/gstavidemux.c in gst-plugins-good in GStreamer before 1.10.3 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds heap read) via vectors involving ncdt tags.
Executive ViewAI
Organizations using gst/avi/gstavidemux.c in gst-plugins-good in GStreamer face notable risk from CVE-2017-5841, a out-of-bounds read vulnerability rated CVSS 7.5. Exploitation could compromise the security of affected deployments. A patch is available and should be applied as part of regular vulnerability management.
Apply vendor patch. If immediate patching is not feasible: (1) Implement network-level access controls to limit exposure; (2) Enable enhanced monitoring and alerting; (3) Apply principle of least privilege.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
VulDB
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.
Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.
Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.
Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org
Heap-based buffer overflow in the flx_decode_delta_fli function in gst/flx/gstflxdec.c in the FLIC decoder in GStreamer
Heap-based buffer overflow in the flx_decode_delta_fli function in gst/flx/gstflxdec.c in the FLIC decoder in GStreamer
Heap-based buffer overflow in the flx_decode_delta_fli function in gst/flx/gstflxdec.c in the FLIC decoder in GStreamer
The FLIC decoder in GStreamer before 1.10.2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds write an
A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in GStreamer's RTSP connection parser that allows remote attackers to
A heap buffer over-read vulnerability exists in GStreamer's isomp4 plugin that allows reading past allocated memory boun
An integer overflow vulnerability in the GStreamer multimedia framework's matroska demuxer allows heap memory corruption
A critical integer overflow vulnerability in GStreamer's qtdemux element allows attackers to trigger denial of service o
A critical integer overflow vulnerability in the GStreamer multimedia framework's Matroska (MKV) demuxer can cause denia
An integer overflow vulnerability in GStreamer's Matroska demuxer can cause denial of service or potentially heap memory
An integer overflow vulnerability in GStreamer's AVI demux element allows attackers to trigger a heap overwrite when par
A heap overflow vulnerability exists in GStreamer's matroskaparse element due to an integer overflow in the gst_matroska
GitHub PoC
Exploit-DB