Description
A Division-by-Zero vulnerability in the ff_sws_init_single_context function (/libswscale/utils.c) of FFmpeg N-122528-gdd2976b9e1 allows attackers to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) via a crafted input.
Published: 2026-08-27
Score: 6.5 Medium
EPSS: < 1% Very Low
KEV: No
Impact: Denial of Service
Action: Apply Patch
AI Analysis

Impact

The vulnerability is a division‑by‑zero flaw in the ff_sws_init_single_context function in libswscale/utils.c of FFmpeg. A crafted media stream can cause the function to divide by zero, leading the process to crash and resulting in a denial of service. The flaw is a classic CWE‑369 error that permits an attacker to trigger a crash by supplying malformed input to the scaling routine.

Affected Systems

Affected product is the FFmpeg multimedia framework, specifically the libswscale scaling component. No explicit vendor or product name is provided beyond FFmpeg itself, and no version ranges are indicated, so any FFmpeg build that includes the ff_sws_init_single_context function is potentially vulnerable until the fix is applied.

Risk and Exploitability

The likely attack vector is a malicious media file that forces the scaling pipeline to divide by zero; thus, any instance of FFmpeg that processes user‑supplied content can be targeted remotely if the application is exposed over a network or accepts uploads. Because the flaw causes an immediate crash, it can be leveraged for denial of service without requiring privilege escalation. The EPSS score is <1%, indicating a very low likelihood of exploitation, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog, indicating limited published exploitation data. The CVSS score of 6.5 denotes medium severity, though the impact remains a denial of service that could degrade media processing services.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on September 3, 2026 at 10:19 UTC.

Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

OpenCVE Recommended Actions

  • Update FFmpeg to the latest release that contains the fix.
  • If an update cannot be applied immediately, run FFmpeg in a sandboxed or isolated environment and limit untrusted input streams.
  • Implement input validation or sanitization to reject malformed media before it reaches the scaling functions.
  • Monitor application logs and process health to detect crashes and trigger automatic restarts or rollback mechanisms.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on September 3, 2026 at 10:19 UTC.

Tracking

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Advisories

No advisories yet.

History

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 21:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'poc', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Wed, 02 Sep 2026 19:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

cvssV3_1

{'score': 6.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}


Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Title Division‑by‑Zero in FFmpeg libswscale Causes Denial of Service ffmpeg: FFmpeg: Denial of Service via division-by-zero vulnerability in `ff_sws_init_single_context` function.
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

threat_severity

Moderate


Fri, 28 Aug 2026 08:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Title Division‑by‑Zero in FFmpeg libswscale Causes Denial of Service
Weaknesses CWE-369

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 06:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Ffmpeg
Ffmpeg ffmpeg
Vendors & Products Ffmpeg
Ffmpeg ffmpeg

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description A Division-by-Zero vulnerability in the ff_sws_init_single_context function (/libswscale/utils.c) of FFmpeg N-122528-gdd2976b9e1 allows attackers to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) via a crafted input.
References

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: mitre

Published:

Updated: 2026-09-02T18:13:01.022Z

Reserved: 2026-04-06T00:00:00.000Z

Link: CVE-2026-38345

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-09-02T18:12:52.462Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Deferred

Published: 2026-08-28T00:17:27.197

Modified: 2026-09-08T19:42:20.313

Link: CVE-2026-38345

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Moderate

Publid Date: 2026-08-27T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2026-38345 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-09-03T10:30:12Z

Weaknesses