CVE-2025-10256
📋 TL;DR
A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in FFmpeg's Firequalizer filter allows attackers to cause denial of service by crashing applications that process malicious media files. This affects any software using FFmpeg with the Firequalizer filter enabled, including media players, video editors, and streaming services. The vulnerability is triggered when the filter attempts to allocate memory that fails but isn't properly checked.
💻 Affected Systems
- FFmpeg
- Software using FFmpeg libraries (VLC, HandBrake, OBS Studio, etc.)
📦 What is this software?
Ffmpeg by Ffmpeg
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete application crash leading to denial of service, potentially disrupting media processing pipelines or services that rely on FFmpeg for real-time processing.
Likely Case
Application crash when processing malicious media files, causing temporary service disruption until the process restarts.
If Mitigated
No impact if the Firequalizer filter is disabled or if patched versions are used.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires the Firequalizer filter to be active, which is not enabled by default in most applications.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: FFmpeg commit a25462482c02c004d685a8fcf2fa63955aaa0931 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-10256
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update FFmpeg to latest version from official repository. 2. Rebuild any applications using FFmpeg libraries. 3. Restart affected services.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Firequalizer Filter
allPrevent use of the vulnerable filter in FFmpeg processing pipelines.
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -af "firequalizer=enable=0" output.mp4
Input Validation
allImplement strict input validation for media files before processing.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Disable Firequalizer filter in all media processing workflows
- Implement application sandboxing to limit impact of crashes
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check FFmpeg version and verify if built before commit a25462482c02c004d685a8fcf2fa63955aaa0931Check Version:
ffmpeg -version | grep 'version'Verify Fix Applied:
Verify FFmpeg version includes commit a25462482c02c004d685a8fcf2fa63955aaa0931 or later📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Application crashes with segmentation fault when processing media
- NULL pointer dereference errors in application logs
Network Indicators:
- Unusual media file uploads to processing services
SIEM Query:
source="application.logs" AND ("segmentation fault" OR "NULL pointer" OR "SIGSEGV") AND process="ffmpeg"