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FFmpeg has a lot of weird and not widely used codecs that don't get a lot of scrutiny. If there's no specifics then it could be a bug in one them.

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They specifically mention "H.264, H.265, and av1 codecs, along with many others" here https://red.anthropic.com/2026/mythos-preview/

this only makes things worse for ffmpeg

if someone sends you a malicious file that uses a rare codec and you open it, you will trigger this codepath that is not widely used and don't get a lot of scrutiny

A prior bug discussed here was against a file format only used by specific 1990s Lucas Arts adventure games titles. Obscure enough that discussion of the bug report itself was the only search results. Your video player is unlikely to even attempt to open that.

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