# CVE-2019-12874: Use after free in n/a

> A double free vulnerability in VLC's Matroska demuxer allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service via a malformed MKV file.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 18 Jun 2019
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2019-12874, GHSA-hjrf-5287-583q, UBUNTU-CVE-2019-12874

## What is CVE-2019-12874?

CVE-2019-12874 is a critical use after free vulnerability in Videolan Vlc Media Player, published on 18 Jun 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An issue was discovered in zlib_decompress_extra in modules/demux/mkv/util.cpp in VideoLAN VLC media player 3.x through 3.0.7. The Matroska demuxer, while parsing a malformed MKV file type, has a double free.

Weakness: CWE-415 (Double Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-12874?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Videolan Vlc Media Player.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-12874?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2019-12874 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-12874 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Videolan Vlc Media Player

- [CVE-2008-0296](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-0296/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2023-47359](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-47359/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-10699](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-10699/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2013-1868](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-1868/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2012-0023](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-0023/): Use after free in n/a (critical 9.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-12874 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-12874 is a critical use after free vulnerability in Videolan Vlc Media Player, published on 18 Jun 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-12874 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Videolan Vlc Media Player. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12874/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12874/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-12874
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-12874
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-12874

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12874/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.