CVE-2026-66038
FFmpeg LCL/ZLIB Video Decoder Information Disclosure via lcldec.c
Description
FFmpeg through 8.1.2, fixed in commit 8670835, contains an information disclosure vulnerability in the LCL/ZLIB video decoder that allows attackers to expose uninitialized heap memory by supplying a valid zlib stream that inflates to fewer bytes than the expected frame size. The zlib_decomp() function in lcldec.c treats short decompression as non-fatal and continues to the RGB24 conversion path, which copies a full frame's worth of rows from the allocation buffer using original frame dimensions, causing uninitialized heap contents including pointer-derived allocator bytes to be copied into the attacker-observable AVFrame output and potentially defeating ASLR in long-lived media processing services.
INFO
Published Date :
July 24, 2026, 8:18 p.m.
Last Modified :
July 24, 2026, 9:16 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
Yes !
Source :
[email protected]
Affected Products
The following products are affected by CVE-2026-66038
vulnerability.
Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the
products
that
are
affected, the information is not represented in the table below.
No affected product recoded yet
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS | 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 | |||||
| CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM | 83251b91-4cc7-4094-a5c7-464a1b83ea10 | ||||
| CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM | [email protected] | ||||
| CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM | MITRE-CVE | ||||
| CVSS 4.0 | HIGH | 83251b91-4cc7-4094-a5c7-464a1b83ea10 | ||||
| CVSS 4.0 | HIGH | [email protected] |
Solution
- Update FFmpeg to a patched version.
- Apply commit 8670835 if manually patching.
- Review video decoder handling for short decompression.
- Consider memory sanitization checks.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-66038.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-66038 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-66038
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2026-66038 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-66038 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
-
CVE Modified by 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
Jul. 24, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added SSVC {'id': 'CVE-2026-66038', 'role': 'CISA Coordinator', 'options': [{'exploitation': 'none'}, {'automatable': 'no'}, {'technicalImpact': 'partial'}], 'version': '2.0.3', 'timestamp': '2026-07-24T20:14:10.590088Z'} -
New CVE Received by [email protected]
Jul. 24, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Affected [{'repo': 'https://code.ffmpeg.org/FFmpeg/FFmpeg', 'vendor': 'FFmpeg', 'product': 'FFmpeg', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '0', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '8.1.2'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '86708357d126af84c16f80d9c57335d1e8c845c5', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}] Added Description FFmpeg through 8.1.2, fixed in commit 8670835, contains an information disclosure vulnerability in the LCL/ZLIB video decoder that allows attackers to expose uninitialized heap memory by supplying a valid zlib stream that inflates to fewer bytes than the expected frame size. The zlib_decomp() function in lcldec.c treats short decompression as non-fatal and continues to the RGB24 conversion path, which copies a full frame's worth of rows from the allocation buffer using original frame dimensions, causing uninitialized heap contents including pointer-derived allocator bytes to be copied into the attacker-observable AVFrame output and potentially defeating ASLR in long-lived media processing services. Added CVSS V4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N Added CWE CWE-908 Added Reference https://code.ffmpeg.org/FFmpeg/FFmpeg/commit/e7cbfd1c507b57a806a5825b87d609963e862c8c Added Reference https://code.ffmpeg.org/FFmpeg/FFmpeg/pulls/23626 Added Reference https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/ffmpeg-lcl-zlib-video-decoder-information-disclosure-via-lcldec-c