Vulnerability · Published Nov 1, 2026 · Assigned by VulnCheck
CVE-2026-120244FFmpeg 2.1 through 9.0.2 Uninitialized Memory Leak via PCX Decoder
Medium 5.5
In plain English
A medium-severity security flaw in FFmpeg from FFmpeg. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.1% (higher than 2% of all known vulnerabilities).
Severity (CVSS 3.1)5.5Medium
Exploit odds (30 days)0.1%top 97.9% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known
Official description
FFmpeg 2.1 through 9.0.2 contains a use of uninitialized resource vulnerability in the PCX decoder that allows attackers to leak heap memory through truncated RLE scanlines. Attackers can craft a PCX image whose RLE data ends early, causing pcx_decode_frame() to copy uninitialized av_malloc() buffer contents into visible decoded pixels.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:12 | ffmpeg | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-120244 |
| Debian:13 | ffmpeg | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-120244 |
| Debian:14 | ffmpeg | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-120244 |
| Ubuntu:26.10 | ffmpeg | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-120244 |
Affected products (as reported)
Weakness: CWE-908 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
References
- https://code.ffmpeg.org/FFmpeg/FFmpeg/pulls/24868 issue-tracking
- https://github.com/FFmpeg/FFmpeg/commit/ecd5dfc308a164757e7f25b1afefd8db21b43cf9 patch
- https://github.com/FFmpeg/FFmpeg/blob/n9.0.2/libavcodec/pcx.c#L45-L59 technical-description
- https://github.com/FFmpeg/FFmpeg product
- VulnCheck Advisory: FFmpeg 2.1 through 9.0.2 Uninitialized Memory Leak via PCX Decoder third-party-advisory