CVE-2021-38171

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 9.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: CRITICAL) published 2022-05-24. NVD baseline CVSS 9.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
9.8
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS: 2%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: NoneExposed: 0

A fix is available — apply it.

adts_decode_extradata in libavformat/adtsenc.c in FFmpeg 4.4 does not check the init_get_bits return value, which is a necessary step because the second argument to init_get_bits can be crafted.

CVSS v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8(medium)
EPSS
82.2%
KEV
Not listed

Published

August 21, 2021

Last Modified

November 21, 2024

Advisory Details (6)

Auto-updated Jul 6, 2026
Patch available. Sources: github_commit.
generic

FFmpeg: Multiple Vulnerabilities (GLSA 202312-14) — Gentoo security

https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202312-14
generic

[FFmpeg-devel,v2,1/1] return value check for init_get_bits in adts_decode_extradata - Patchwork

https://patchwork.ffmpeg.org/project/ffmpeg/patch/AS8P193MB12542A86E22F8207EC971930B6F19%40AS8P193MB1254.EURP193.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM/
generic Patch Available

[SECURITY] [DLA 2818-1] ffmpeg security update

https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/11/msg00012.html
github_commit

commit 9ffa49496d1a (FFmpeg/FFmpeg)

Fix landed in FFmpeg/FFmpeg commit 9ffa49496d1a — awaiting tagged release

https://github.com/FFmpeg/FFmpeg/commit/9ffa49496d1aae4cbbb387aac28a9e061a6ab0a6
generic

[SECURITY] [DSA 4998-1] ffmpeg security update

https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4998
generic

[SECURITY] [DSA 4990-1] ffmpeg security update

https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4990

Patch Availability(2)

Vendor / EcosystemFixed in / PatchReleasedSource
ubuntulibavdevice-dev (7:4.4.2-0ubuntu0.22.04.1) @ jammy2026-05-26ubuntu
ubuntulibavdevice-ffmpeg56 (7:2.8.17-0ubuntu0.1+esm4) @ xenial2026-05-26ubuntu

Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

All Vendor Advisories

(2)

Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 9× in last 7d / 45× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-07-11 08:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-07-11 08:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-07-09 19:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-07-08 15:12 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-07-07 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-07-06 16:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-07-06 02:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-07-05 02:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-07-05 02:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-07-04 06:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-07-04 06:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-07-01 15:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-30 23:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-30 23:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-30 18:00 UTCOSV refresh
  16. 2026-06-29 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-28 14:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-28 04:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-28 04:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-27 03:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-25 13:48 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-25 13:48 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-24 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-24 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-23 21:31 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 57 more
  1. 2026-06-23 21:31 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-06-22 14:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-06-22 14:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-06-21 14:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-06-21 01:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-06-21 01:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-06-19 19:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-06-19 19:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-06-18 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-06-18 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-17 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-16 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-16 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-15 17:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-14 23:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-13 22:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-13 22:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-13 00:07 UTCOSV refresh
  19. 2026-06-12 23:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-12 23:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-11 13:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-10 22:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-10 13:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-08 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-08 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-06-07 15:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-06-07 15:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-06-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  29. 2026-06-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-06-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  31. 2026-06-05 22:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-06-05 06:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-06-05 06:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  34. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  35. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  36. 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  37. 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  38. 2026-06-01 13:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  39. 2026-06-01 13:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-05-31 22:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  41. 2026-05-31 22:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  42. 2026-05-31 00:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  43. 2026-05-31 00:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  44. 2026-05-29 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  45. 2026-05-29 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  46. 2026-05-28 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  47. 2026-05-28 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  48. 2026-05-27 13:39 UTCEPSS rescore
  49. 2026-05-27 13:39 UTCEPSS rescore
  50. 2026-05-27 13:39 UTCEPSS rescore
  51. 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  52. 2026-05-26 11:44 UTCEG score recompute
  53. 2026-05-26 11:44 UTCVendor advisory
  54. 2026-05-26 11:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  55. 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  56. 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  57. 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2021-38171?
CVE-2021-38171 is a critical vulnerability published on August 21, 2021. adtsdecodeextradata in libavformat/adtsenc.c in FFmpeg 4.4 does not check the initgetbits return value, which is a necessary step because the second argument to initgetbits can be crafted.
When was CVE-2021-38171 disclosed?
CVE-2021-38171 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on August 21, 2021, with the most recent update on November 21, 2024. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2021-38171 actively exploited?
CVE-2021-38171 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 82.2% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-38171?
CVE-2021-38171 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2021-38171?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2021-38171, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

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