Buffer overflow in VLC Media Player - CVE-2025-51602
Published: January 8, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU121108
CSH Severity: High
CVSS v4: 8.6 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: CVE-2025-51602
CWE-ID: CWE-119
Exploitation vector: Remote access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerability details
The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the target system.
The vulnerability exists due to a boundary error when processing media files or streams. A remote attacker can trick the victim into opening a specially crafted media file or connecting to a crafted stream to trigger memory corruption and execute arbitrary code on the target system.
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may result in complete compromise of vulnerable system.
Affected software
VLC Media Player
Debian Linux
vlc (Debian package)
Debian Linux
vlc (Debian package)
How to mitigate CVE-2025-51602
Install updates from vendor's website.
VLC Media Player - update to 3.0.22
vlc (Debian package) - addressed in versions 3.0.23-0+deb12u1, 3.0.23-0+deb13u1
vlc (Debian package) - addressed in versions 3.0.23-0+deb12u1, 3.0.23-0+deb13u1