CVE-2024-7272
📋 TL;DR
A critical heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in FFmpeg's fill_audiodata function allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service. This affects FFmpeg versions up to 5.1.5 when processing malicious audio data. Anyone using vulnerable FFmpeg versions for audio/video processing is at risk.
💻 Affected Systems
- FFmpeg
📦 What is this software?
Ffmpeg by Ffmpeg
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise, data theft, or ransomware deployment
Likely Case
Application crash (denial of service) with potential for remote code execution in vulnerable configurations
If Mitigated
Application crash without code execution if memory protections (ASLR, DEP) are effective
🎯 Exploit Status
Proof-of-concept code is publicly available and remote exploitation is possible
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: FFmpeg 5.1.6 or 6.0 (commit 9903ba28c28ab18dc7b7b6fb8571cc8b5caae1a6)
Vendor Advisory: https://ffmpeg.org/
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download FFmpeg 5.1.6 or newer from ffmpeg.org. 2. Compile and install the updated version. 3. Restart any services using FFmpeg. 4. Verify the fix with version check.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable audio processing
allPrevent FFmpeg from processing audio streams where possible
ffmpeg -an -i input.mp4 output.mp4
Sandbox FFmpeg execution
linuxRun FFmpeg in a container or sandboxed environment
docker run --rm -v $(pwd):/data ffmpeg/ffmpeg:latest-safe
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict input validation for audio files before processing
- Deploy network segmentation to isolate FFmpeg processing systems
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check FFmpeg version and compare against affected versions (≤5.1.5)Check Version:
ffmpeg -version | grep 'ffmpeg version'Verify Fix Applied:
Confirm version is 5.1.6 or higher, or check for commit 9903ba28c28ab18dc7b7b6fb8571cc8b5caae1a6 in source📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- FFmpeg segmentation faults
- Memory access violation errors
- Unexpected FFmpeg process termination
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections from FFmpeg processes
- Large unexpected data transfers
SIEM Query:
process.name:"ffmpeg" AND (event.action:"segmentation_fault" OR event.action:"memory_violation")