CVE-2020-13428 [High] | Out-of-bounds Write in Vlc Media Player

A heap-based buffer overflow in the hxxx_AnnexB_to_xVC function in modules/packetizer/hxxx_nal.c in VideoLAN VLC media player before 3.0.11 for macOS/iOS allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or execute arbitrary code via a crafted H.264 Annex-B video (.avi for example) file.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-06-24	2.29%	2.39%	+0.10%
2	2026-06-22	2.39%	2.29%	-0.09%
3	2026-06-15	—	2.39%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-06-24

2.29%

2.39%

+0.10%

2026-06-22

2.39%

2.29%

-0.09%

2026-06-15

—

2.39%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
7.8	3.1	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:L) They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:N) No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough. User interaction (UI:R) A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	1.8	5.9	[email protected]
6.8	2.0	MEDIUM	`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P` Click to expand Access vector (AV:N) Can be exploited remotely over network reachability. Access complexity (AC:M) Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones. Authentication (AU:N) No authentication is required. Confidentiality impact (C:P) Partial confidentiality impact. Integrity impact (I:P) Partial integrity impact. Availability impact (A:P) Partial availability impact.	8.6	6.4	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

7.8

3.1

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:L): They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N): No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R): A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

1.8

5.9

[email protected]

6.8

2.0

MEDIUM

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand

Access vector (AV:N): Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M): Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N): No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P): Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P): Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P): Partial availability impact.

8.6

6.4

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-13428

vendor	priority	summary	link
`alpine`	high	CVE-2020-13428: 1 source package rows (vlc); 7 state rows across 7 repos (3.17-community, 3.18-community, 3.19-community, 3.20-community, 3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 7, open 0.	https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2020-13428
`debian`	not yet assigned	CVE-2020-13428 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (vlc), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5.	https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-13428
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2020-13428 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (vlc), 16 status rows across 16 suites (bionic, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 11, ignored 2, released 2, needs-triage 1.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-13428

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-13428

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
videolan	vlc_media_player	< 3.0.11	cpe:2.3:a:videolan:vlc_media_player::::::iphone_os::*
videolan	vlc_media_player	< 3.0.11	cpe:2.3:a:videolan:vlc_media_player::::::macos::*
debian	debian_linux	9.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:::::::*
debian	debian_linux	10.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:::::::*

References for CVE-2020-13428

URL	Tags
http://git.videolan.org/?p=vlc/vlc-3.0.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=d5c43c21c747ff30ed19fcca745dea3481c733e0
https://github.com/videolan/vlc-3.0/releases/tag/3.0.11	Release Notes Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/videolan/vlc/commits/master/modules/packetizer/hxxx_nal.c	Patch Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4704	Third Party Advisory
https://www.videolan.org/security/sb-vlc3011.html	Vendor Advisory

URL

CVE-2020-13428

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-13428

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-13428

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-13428

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-13428

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-13428

References for CVE-2020-13428