What is CVE-2022-38855?A medium-severity flaw in Mencoder, explained.

Medium severity3 affected products
The short answer

CVE-2022-38855 is a medium-severity flaw (CVSS 5.5) in Mencoder from Mplayerhq, published on 15 September 2022. It is not on the list of flaws known to be exploited today. The latest forecast puts its chance of use in the next 30 days at 0.4%. If you run an affected version, plan in the vendor’s fix.

Published 15 September 2022. Record last updated 17 January 2023. We keep this page's data up to date.

What it does

What is CVE-2022-38855? In plain terms.

An attacker has to be already on the device without logging in, but a person has to take an action first. If it works, the attacker can take it offline.

The official description

Certain The MPlayer Project products are vulnerable to Buffer Overflow via function gen_sh_video () of mplayer/libmpdemux/demux_mov.c. This affects mplayer SVN-r38374-13.0.1 and mencoder SVN-r38374-13.0.1.

What kind of flaw is it?

  • CWE-787Out-of-bounds Write
CVSS 3.1 scoreMedium · 5.5

How an attack on it works

Read straight from its severity rating, translated out of the shorthand.

  • Where an attacker can beAlready on the device
  • How hard it is to pull offEasy: no special conditions
  • Login needed firstNo login needed
  • Does someone have to clickYes, a person has to take an action
  • What an attacker getsCan take it offline

Severity vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Exploitation

Is CVE-2022-38855 being exploited? Not that we know of.

It is not on the list of flaws known to be exploited today. The latest forecast puts the chance of it being used in the next 30 days at 0.4%. That can change at any time, which is why we keep watching.

Known to be exploitedNoNot on the list of exploited flaws today
Chance of use in the next 30 days0.4%Its EPSS score, from the latest forecast

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Record last updated
How Precursor Intelligence ranks it
40out of 100Medium

CVE-2022-38855 scores 40. Action: Plan remediation.

We keep the score of every published flaw up to date as the evidence changes. Four things go into the score, and evidence that criminals are actually using it counts most. In order:

  • Evidence it is being exploitedBiggest factor
  • How severe it isStrong factor
  • How widely exposed it isSmaller factor
  • Threat activity around itSmaller factor

85 and above is Critical. Anything confirmed as exploited is always marked for an emergency patch, whatever its score.

When CVE-2022-38855 matches software you track, it lands in your list with its score and the reasons behind it.

See your own ranked list →
Affected products

Who is affected by CVE-2022-38855? 3 products.

The published record lists 3 products from 2 vendors. If you run one of these, check your version, then go to the fix below.

Remediation

How do I fix CVE-2022-38855? Four steps.

  1. Check whether you run itCompare your versions with the affected products above. Not sure what you run? Precursor Intelligence can work it out from your public website, or you can pick it from a list.
  2. Apply the vendor’s fixInstall the latest update from the vendor. The references list where the vendor has published details.
  3. If you can’t patch todayFollow any mitigation the vendor publishes, and limit who can reach the affected system from the internet until the update is in.
  4. Keep an eye on itTrack the product and we tell you as soon as we spot this flaw on the list of exploited flaws, or a jump in its exploit likelihood.

References

2 links
Precursor Intelligence

Does CVE-2022-38855 affect you? We'll keep checking.

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  1. Tell us what you runPick your software from a list, or let us work it out from your website.
  2. We match it to every flawOver 400,000 published flaws, checked against your list.
  3. Ranked by real-world riskA 0 to 100 score, led by evidence criminals are using it.
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FAQ

Common questions, answered plainly.

Something else? Talk to the team →

CVE-2022-38855 is a medium-severity flaw in Mencoder from Mplayerhq, published on 15 September 2022. An attacker has to be already on the device without logging in, but a person has to take an action first. If it works, the attacker can take it offline.

It scores 5.5 out of 10 on the CVSS severity scale, which is medium. Our risk score for CVE-2022-38855 is 40 out of 100, which is Medium. Its action is "Plan remediation". No sign of exploitation and a low forecast. Patch it in your normal update cycle.

It is not on the list of flaws known to be exploited today. The latest forecast puts the chance of it being used in the next 30 days at 0.4%. That can change at any time, which is why we keep watching.

For Mencoder from Mplayerhq: svn-r38374-13.0.1. The record lists 3 products in all, each with its versions, under "Who is affected" on this page.

Install the update the vendor names in its advisory. If you can't patch today, follow the vendor's mitigation and limit who can reach the affected system from the internet.