CVE-2026-125265FFmpeg use after free
CVE-2026-125265 is a use after free in FFmpeg, rated medium (5.8 on CVSS 4.0).
Why this priority: Medium severity, with no exploitation signal.
Published · Updated · NVD status: Awaiting Analysis
What it is
Code keeps using memory after releasing it, so an attacker who refills that memory can steer execution.
How it is reached
An attacker can exploit it by someone who can already run code or sign in on the machine, without an account, but someone has to act first, such as opening a file or following a link. Success also depends on conditions the attacker does not fully control.
What an attacker gains
A successful attack can take it offline. In practice, this kind of flaw lets an attacker crash the process, read memory, or in the worst case run code.
Is it being exploited?
There is no public report of exploitation yet.
What to do
- No fixed version is listed yet. Find every place FFmpeg runs, watch the references for a fix, and plan a replacement if it is no longer supported.
- Limit who can run code or sign in on the hosts that run it.
- Warn the people who use it, and filter files and links on the way in.
Description from NVD
FFmpeg through 9.0.2 contains a use-after-free vulnerability in libavcodec/nvdec.c because ff_nvdec_start_frame() fails to reset ctx->bitstream after slice errors. Attackers can supply crafted video that abandons a picture before end_frame, causing cuvidDecodePicture() to read freed heap memory, crashing applications or exposing stale heap contents.
What this means for your architecture.
A CVE names a product. Whether it matters depends on where that product sits in your systems: what reaches it, which trust boundary it guards and what it can reach once compromised. Veriom maps your components, their relationships and your trust boundaries from your code, cloud and delivery evidence, so you can see where a component like this sits. The radar itself does not look at your systems.
Components it touches
- Native code: operating systems, browsers and firmware. The flaw sits wherever native code reads untrusted data.
- Network appliances and media or file parsers. The flaw sits wherever native code reads untrusted data.
Trust boundaries in play
- Host boundary. The attacker needs a foothold on the machine first; the flaw turns a small foothold into a bigger one.
- People who open files and links. Mail, chat and browsers are the delivery path.
- Wherever native code reads untrusted data. An attacker who crosses it can crash the process, read memory, or in the worst case run code.
Questions to answer about your own systems
- Where does FFmpeg run in your systems, and at which version?
- Which of those hosts also run code or users you do not fully trust?
- What can it reach once compromised: which data stores, secrets and services?
Read more
Patches and commits
Advisories
Sources
- CVE records and CVSS scores from the NVD CVE API. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- Exploitation status from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
- Exploit likelihood from FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), refreshed daily.
- Explanations are written by Veriom from fixed templates over each record’s data, not by a person reviewing each CVE. Descriptions are quoted from the records as published.