From 5f869755c8b6bc2dcdd36a11323ae45d3a851913 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Acts1631 <69813585+acts-1631@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2026 12:25:21 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Bound recursive Matroska and MP4 element trees (#1425)

The Matroska and MP4 parsers limited child elements per container, but
allowed that limit to repeat at every nesting level. A crafted media file
could therefore retain millions of small elements and exhaust process
memory while it was opened.

Carry a shared element count through recursive parsing so the existing
per-container limits also have a global bound.
---
 taglib/matroska/ebml/ebmlmasterelement.cpp | 13 +++++++++--
 taglib/matroska/ebml/ebmlmasterelement.h   |  1 +
 taglib/mp4/mp4atom.cpp                     | 25 ++++++++++++++++++++--
 taglib/mp4/mp4atom.h                       |  3 +++
 4 files changed, 38 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/taglib/matroska/ebml/ebmlmasterelement.cpp b/taglib/matroska/ebml/ebmlmasterelement.cpp
index 87f3dfd6..61e18110 100644
--- a/taglib/matroska/ebml/ebmlmasterelement.cpp
+++ b/taglib/matroska/ebml/ebmlmasterelement.cpp
@@ -99,8 +99,15 @@ void EBML::MasterElement::setMinRenderSize(offset_t minimumSize)
 }
 
 bool EBML::MasterElement::read(File &file, int depth)
+{
+  unsigned int elementCount = 0;
+  return read(file, depth, elementCount);
+}
+
+bool EBML::MasterElement::read(File &file, int depth, unsigned int &elementCount)
 {
   static constexpr int MAX_EBML_DEPTH = 64;
+  static constexpr int MAX_EBML_ELEMENT_COUNT = 50000;
   static constexpr int MAX_EBML_ELEMENT_COUNT_PER_LEVEL = 50000;
   if(depth > MAX_EBML_DEPTH) {
     debug("EBML: Maximum nesting depth exceeded");
@@ -109,12 +116,14 @@ bool EBML::MasterElement::read(File &file, int depth)
   const offset_t maxOffset = file.tell() + dataSize;
   std::unique_ptr<Element> element;
   while((element = findNextElement(file, maxOffset))) {
-    if(elements.size() >= MAX_EBML_ELEMENT_COUNT_PER_LEVEL) {
+    if(elementCount >= MAX_EBML_ELEMENT_COUNT ||
+       elements.size() >= MAX_EBML_ELEMENT_COUNT_PER_LEVEL) {
       debug("EBML: Maximum element count exceeded");
       return false;
     }
+    ++elementCount;
     if(auto master = dynamic_cast<MasterElement *>(element.get())) {
-      if(!master->read(file, depth + 1)) {
+      if(!master->read(file, depth + 1, elementCount)) {
         debug("EBML: Invalid MasterElement");
         continue;
       }
diff --git a/taglib/matroska/ebml/ebmlmasterelement.h b/taglib/matroska/ebml/ebmlmasterelement.h
index 3b77094a..175fc7b5 100644
--- a/taglib/matroska/ebml/ebmlmasterelement.h
+++ b/taglib/matroska/ebml/ebmlmasterelement.h
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ namespace TagLib
 
     protected:
       bool read(File &file, int depth);
+      bool read(File &file, int depth, unsigned int &elementCount);
 
       offset_t offset;
       offset_t padding = 0;
diff --git a/taglib/mp4/mp4atom.cpp b/taglib/mp4/mp4atom.cpp
index d0b2f379..3781b75a 100644
--- a/taglib/mp4/mp4atom.cpp
+++ b/taglib/mp4/mp4atom.cpp
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ namespace {
     "stbl", "minf", "moof", "traf", "trak",
     "stsd", "stem"
   };
+  constexpr int MAX_MP4_ATOM_COUNT = 50000;
   constexpr int MAX_MP4_ATOM_COUNT_PER_LEVEL = 50000;
 } // namespace
 
@@ -56,6 +57,25 @@ public:
 MP4::Atom::Atom(File *file, int depth)
   : d(std::make_unique<AtomPrivate>(file->tell()))
 {
+  unsigned int atomCount = 0;
+  read(file, depth, atomCount);
+}
+
+MP4::Atom::Atom(File *file, int depth, unsigned int &atomCount)
+  : d(std::make_unique<AtomPrivate>(file->tell()))
+{
+  read(file, depth, atomCount);
+}
+
+void MP4::Atom::read(File *file, int depth, unsigned int &atomCount)
+{
+  if(++atomCount > MAX_MP4_ATOM_COUNT) {
+    debug("MP4: Maximum atom count exceeded");
+    d->length = 0;
+    file->seek(0, File::End);
+    return;
+  }
+
   d->children.setAutoDelete(true);
 
   ByteVector header = file->readBlock(8);
@@ -124,7 +144,7 @@ MP4::Atom::Atom(File *file, int depth)
           file->seek(0, File::End);
           return;
         }
-        auto child = new MP4::Atom(file, depth + 1);
+        auto child = new MP4::Atom(file, depth + 1, atomCount);
         d->children.append(child);
         if(child->d->length == 0)
           return;
@@ -232,12 +252,13 @@ MP4::Atoms::Atoms(File *file) :
   d(std::make_unique<AtomsPrivate>())
 {
   d->atoms.setAutoDelete(true);
+  unsigned int atomCount = 0;
 
   file->seek(0, File::End);
   offset_t end = file->tell();
   file->seek(0);
   while(file->tell() + 8 <= end) {
-    auto atom = new MP4::Atom(file);
+    auto atom = new MP4::Atom(file, 0, atomCount);
     d->atoms.append(atom);
     if (atom->length() == 0)
       break;
diff --git a/taglib/mp4/mp4atom.h b/taglib/mp4/mp4atom.h
index 7ecd6f00..339bb0c6 100644
--- a/taglib/mp4/mp4atom.h
+++ b/taglib/mp4/mp4atom.h
@@ -112,9 +112,12 @@ namespace TagLib {
 
     protected:
       Atom(File *file, int depth);
+      Atom(File *file, int depth, unsigned int &atomCount);
 
     private:
+      friend class Atoms;
       class AtomPrivate;
+      void read(File *file, int depth, unsigned int &atomCount);
       TAGLIB_MSVC_SUPPRESS_WARNING_NEEDS_TO_HAVE_DLL_INTERFACE
       std::unique_ptr<AtomPrivate> d;
     };