CVE-2025-27091

HIGH
Published Feb 20, 2025 Modified May 6, 2025 CWE-122 CWE-787

Description

OpenH264 is a free license codec library which supports H.264 encoding and decoding. A vulnerability in the decoding functions of OpenH264 codec library could allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to trigger a heap overflow. This vulnerability is due to a race condition between a Sequence Parameter Set (SPS) memory allocation and a subsequent non Instantaneous Decoder Refresh (non-IDR) Network Abstraction Layer (NAL) unit memory usage. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by crafting a malicious bitstream and tricking a victim user into processing an arbitrary video containing the malicious bistream. An exploit could allow the attacker to cause an unexpected crash in the victim's user decoding client and, possibly, perform arbitrary commands on the victim's host by abusing the heap overflow. This vulnerability affects OpenH264 2.5.0 and earlier releases. Both Scalable Video Coding (SVC) mode and Advanced Video Coding (AVC) mode are affected by this vulnerability. OpenH264 software releases 2.6.0 and later contained the fix for this vulnerability. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability. ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * [Open an issue in cisco/openh264](https://github.com/cisco/openh264/issues) * Email Cisco Open Source Security ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])) and Cisco PSIRT ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])) ### Credits: * **Research:** Octavian Guzu and Andrew Calvano of Meta * **Fix ideation:** Philipp Hancke and Shyam Sadhwani of Meta * **Fix implementation:** Benzheng Zhang (@BenzhengZhang) * **Release engineering:** Benzheng Zhang (@BenzhengZhang)

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CVSS v3.1 Score

7.5
HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-122 CWE-122
CWE-787 Out-of-bounds Write

Affected Products

Vendor Product
cisco openh264

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-27091? +
OpenH264 is a free license codec library which supports H.264 encoding and decoding. A vulnerability in the decoding functions of OpenH264 codec library could allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to trigger a heap overflow. This vulnerability is due to a race condition between a Sequence Parameter Set (SPS) memory allocation and a subsequent non Instantaneous Decoder Refresh (non-IDR) Network Abstraction Layer (NAL) unit memory usage. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by crafting a malicious bitstream and tricking a victim user into processing an arbitrary video containing the malicious bistream. An exploit could allow the attacker to cause an unexpected crash in the victim's user decoding client and, possibly, perform arbitrary commands on the victim's host by abusing the heap overflow. This vulnerability affects OpenH264 2.5.0 and earlier releases. Both Scalable Video Coding (SVC) mode and Advanced Video Coding (AVC) mode are affected by this vulnerability. OpenH264 software releases 2.6.0 and later contained the fix for this vulnerability. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability. ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * [Open an issue in cisco/openh264](https://github.com/cisco/openh264/issues) * Email Cisco Open Source Security ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])) and Cisco PSIRT ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])) ### Credits: * **Research:** Octavian Guzu and Andrew Calvano of Meta * **Fix ideation:** Philipp Hancke and Shyam Sadhwani of Meta * **Fix implementation:** Benzheng Zhang (@BenzhengZhang) * **Release engineering:** Benzheng Zhang (@BenzhengZhang) It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH).
How severe is CVE-2025-27091? +
CVE-2025-27091 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.5 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching.
What products are affected by CVE-2025-27091? +
CVE-2025-27091 affects products from cisco, specifically: openh264. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.
How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2025-27091? +
You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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