Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-3887

Memory Safety in Gstreamer 1.0.0 – 1.26.1

Published
22 May 2025
Modified
17 June 2026
CVSS Score v3 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0079 53th percentile
Risk Priority 70 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-3887 is a high-severity Stack-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-121) vulnerability in Gstreamer Gstreamer. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 47% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

GStreamer contains a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in its H265 codec parsing code that can lead to remote code execution. The flaw occurs during handling of H265 slice headers when the library fails to validate the length of attacker-supplied data before copying it into a fixed-size stack buffer. Affected installations include any application that uses the GStreamer multimedia framework to process H265 content.

Remote attackers can exploit the issue by supplying a malicious H265 stream or file to a vulnerable GStreamer-based application. Successful exploitation grants arbitrary code execution in the context of the process that invokes the library, with no authentication required and only user interaction needed to trigger media parsing.

Public advisories from the Zero Day Initiative and Debian reference patches that address the buffer handling defect in GStreamer. The associated EPSS score has remained flat at 0.0491 with no material increase since disclosure.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

GStreamer H265 Codec Parsing Stack-based Buffer Overflow Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of GStreamer. Interaction with this library is required to exploit this vulnerability but attack vectors may vary…

more

depending on the implementation. The specific flaw exists within the parsing of H265 slice headers. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of the length of user-supplied data prior to copying it to a fixed-length stack-based buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-26596.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-50186Same product: Gstreamer Gstreamer
CVE-2024-47607Same product: Gstreamer Gstreamer
CVE-2024-0444Same product: Gstreamer Gstreamer
CVE-2025-6663Same product: Gstreamer Gstreamer
CVE-2024-47538Same product: Gstreamer Gstreamer
CVE-2025-68670Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2023-0330Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2023-0770Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2023-40476Same product: Gstreamer Gstreamer
CVE-2025-47806Same product: Gstreamer Gstreamer

Affected Assets

gstreamer
gstreamer
1.0.0 — 1.26.1
debian
debian linux
11.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and analysis can discover stack-buffer overflows before deployment.

Input validation directly stops untrusted data from exceeding stack buffer bounds.

Memory-protection mechanisms limit the ability to execute injected code after a stack overflow.

Requiring documented secure-development standards and tools can mandate bounds-checked coding practices that avoid the weakness.

Secure-engineering principles include bounds-checked coding and safe buffer handling that avoid introducing the flaw.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure-development practices directly prevent introduction of stack buffer overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning can discover stack buffer overflows but does not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching eliminates known instances of the weakness after discovery.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing (fuzzing, static analysis) detects stack overflows before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates buffer-safety practices that directly prevent stack overflows.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify buffer-size and input-validation rules.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety and least-privilege stack usage.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe buffer handling that causes CWE-121.

prevents

Change management can enforce review gates that catch unsafe memory operations before deployment.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248594 OL 8 must implement address space layout randomization (ASLR) to protect its memory from unauthorized code execution. prevents CWE-121
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
  • V-271452 OL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-121

References