CVE-2025-6663
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in GStreamer's H266 codec parsing, specifically in SEI message handling. Attackers can exploit this to execute arbitrary code remotely by providing malicious H266 video content. Any system using vulnerable GStreamer versions for H266 video processing is affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- GStreamer
📦 What is this software?
Gstreamer by Gstreamer Project
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise with remote code execution leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or persistent backdoor installation.
Likely Case
Application crash (denial of service) or limited code execution within the GStreamer process context, potentially leading to further privilege escalation.
If Mitigated
Application crash without code execution if exploit fails or protections like ASLR/stack canaries are effective.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires crafting malicious H266 video content. Attack vectors vary by implementation but typically involve processing untrusted video files or streams.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Fixed in commit eedd01ac3dfeb60e36a44bb61a6d0418454e8416
Vendor Advisory: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/tpm/gstreamer/-/commit/eedd01ac3dfeb60e36a44bb61a6d0418454e8416
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update GStreamer to version containing commit eedd01ac3dfeb60e36a44bb61a6d0418454e8416. 2. Restart all applications using GStreamer. 3. Rebuild any custom applications linked against GStreamer.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable H266 codec support
linuxRemove or disable H266 codec plugins in GStreamer to prevent parsing of vulnerable content.
gst-inspect-1.0 | grep h266
sudo apt remove gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad (if H266 is in bad plugins)
Input validation
allImplement strict validation of H266 video files before processing through GStreamer.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement network segmentation to isolate systems using GStreamer from untrusted networks.
- Deploy application allowlisting to prevent unauthorized code execution from GStreamer processes.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check GStreamer version and verify if commit eedd01ac3dfeb60e36a44bb61a6d0418454e8416 is present in the source.Check Version:
gst-inspect-1.0 --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify GStreamer version includes the fix commit and test with known malicious H266 samples (in safe environment).📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- GStreamer process crashes with segmentation faults
- Unexpected child processes spawned from GStreamer applications
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections from media processing systems
- H266 video file transfers to vulnerable systems
SIEM Query:
process_name:"gst*" AND (event_id:"1000" OR signal:"SIGSEGV")