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Fix null pointer dereference in Matroska parser on file open failure#2171

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apoorvdarshan wants to merge 1 commit intoCCExtractor:masterfrom
apoorvdarshan:fix/matroska-null-file-pointer
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Fix null pointer dereference in Matroska parser on file open failure#2171
apoorvdarshan wants to merge 1 commit intoCCExtractor:masterfrom
apoorvdarshan:fix/matroska-null-file-pointer

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@apoorvdarshan
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@apoorvdarshan apoorvdarshan commented Mar 4, 2026

Summary

  • create_file() returns the result of fopen() without checking for NULL
  • matroska_loop() passes this directly into matroska_parse(), which calls feof() on the NULL pointer, crashing the program
  • The NULL file pointer propagates to 10+ usage sites throughout the parser
  • Added a NULL check after create_file() that prints an error, frees mkv_ctx, and returns -1

Test plan

  • Build the project and verify no compilation errors
  • Run ccextractor with a nonexistent MKV file path and verify it prints an error instead of crashing

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Same issue as the feedback on #2157: use fatal(EXIT_READ_ERROR, ...) instead of mprint() + return. If the input file can't be opened, the program should exit with a proper error code, not silently return and appear to succeed. The very next error check in this function (malloc for sub_tracks) uses fatal() — be consistent.

Also remove the CHANGES.TXT entry — this is an internal fix, not a user-reported bug.

create_file() returns the result of fopen() which can be NULL if the
file cannot be opened. matroska_loop() never checked this, passing
the NULL pointer into matroska_parse() where it is immediately used
in feof(), causing a crash.

Add a NULL check that calls fatal(EXIT_READ_ERROR, ...) on failure,
consistent with other file-open error handling in the codebase.
@apoorvdarshan apoorvdarshan force-pushed the fix/matroska-null-file-pointer branch from b6c17c2 to 43ee251 Compare March 7, 2026 19:57
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CCExtractor CI platform finished running the test files on linux. Below is a summary of the test results, when compared to test for commit 90128d8...:
Report Name Tests Passed
Broken 10/13
CEA-708 2/14
DVB 4/7
DVD 3/3
DVR-MS 2/2
General 27/27
Hardsubx 1/1
Hauppage 3/3
MP4 3/3
NoCC 10/10
Options 79/86
Teletext 20/21
WTV 13/13
XDS 34/34

Your PR breaks these cases:

NOTE: The following tests have been failing on the master branch as well as the PR:

  • ccextractor --startcreditsforatmost 2 --startcreditstext "CCextractor Start crdit Testing" c4dd893cb9..., Last passed:

    Test 8730

Congratulations: Merging this PR would fix the following tests:

  • ccextractor --autoprogram --out=srt --latin1 --quant 0 85271be4d2..., Last passed: Never
  • ccextractor --autoprogram --out=ttxt --latin1 --ucla dab1c1bd65..., Last passed: Never
  • ccextractor --out=srt --latin1 --autoprogram 29e5ffd34b..., Last passed: Never
  • ccextractor --out=spupng c83f765c66..., Last passed: Never
  • ccextractor --parsePAT --out=srt c83f765c66..., Last passed: Never
  • ccextractor --startcreditstext "CCextractor Start crdit Testing" c4dd893cb9..., Last passed: Never
  • ccextractor --startcreditsnotbefore 1 --startcreditstext "CCextractor Start crdit Testing" c4dd893cb9..., Last passed: Never
  • ccextractor --startcreditsforatleast 1 --startcreditstext "CCextractor Start crdit Testing" c4dd893cb9..., Last passed: Never
  • ccextractor --endcreditsforatleast 3 --endcreditstext "CCextractor Ends crdit Testing" addf5e2fc9..., Last passed: Never

It seems that not all tests were passed completely. This is an indication that the output of some files is not as expected (but might be according to you).

Check the result page for more info.

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CCExtractor CI platform finished running the test files on windows. Below is a summary of the test results, when compared to test for commit e4bcade...:
Report Name Tests Passed
Broken 10/13
CEA-708 2/14
DVB 4/7
DVD 3/3
DVR-MS 2/2
General 27/27
Hardsubx 1/1
Hauppage 3/3
MP4 3/3
NoCC 10/10
Options 81/86
Teletext 20/21
WTV 13/13
XDS 34/34

NOTE: The following tests have been failing on the master branch as well as the PR:

Congratulations: Merging this PR would fix the following tests:

  • ccextractor --autoprogram --out=srt --latin1 --quant 0 85271be4d2..., Last passed: Never
  • ccextractor --autoprogram --out=ttxt --latin1 --ucla dab1c1bd65..., Last passed: Never
  • ccextractor --out=srt --latin1 --autoprogram 29e5ffd34b..., Last passed: Never
  • ccextractor --out=spupng c83f765c66..., Last passed: Never
  • ccextractor --startcreditstext "CCextractor Start crdit Testing" c4dd893cb9..., Last passed: Never
  • ccextractor --startcreditsnotbefore 1 --startcreditstext "CCextractor Start crdit Testing" c4dd893cb9..., Last passed: Never
  • ccextractor --startcreditsnotafter 2 --startcreditstext "CCextractor Start crdit Testing" c4dd893cb9..., Last passed: Never
  • ccextractor --startcreditsforatleast 1 --startcreditstext "CCextractor Start crdit Testing" c4dd893cb9..., Last passed: Never
  • ccextractor --startcreditsforatmost 2 --startcreditstext "CCextractor Start crdit Testing" c4dd893cb9..., Last passed: Never

This PR does not introduce any new test failures. However, some tests are failing on both master and this PR (see above).

Check the result page for more info.

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3 participants