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CIA Modified VLC Media Player to Spy on Users Via WikiLeaks Revelation

By Egleze Editorial Desk · Published May 8, 2026 · Updated May 8, 2026 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #496 – FFmpeg: The Incredible Technology Behind Video on the Internet
CIA Modified VLC Media Player to Spy on Users Via WikiLeaks Revelation
Lex Fridman Podcast
Lex Fridman Podcast
#496 – FFmpeg: The Incredible Technology Behind Video on the Internet

What was said

"The CIA had like a custom version of VLC where they had a specific plugin. It was the normal binaries of VLC, except they added one DLL. I think it was psapi.dll, which was basically reading your document folder, encrypting that, and sending that."

Kempf confirmed that WikiLeaks' Vault 7 documents exposed the CIA creating a modified version of VLC with a surveillance plugin. The agency used targeted advertisements to trick users into downloading the malicious version. While watching movies, the plugin would silently encrypt and exfiltrate documents from users' computers without detection.

Verification status

Attributed speaker claim

Egleze verified who said this and where. The underlying claim has not been independently established by Egleze.

Source and context

Egleze verified who said this and where. The underlying claim has not been independently established by Egleze.

Programme
Lex Fridman Podcast
Episode
#496 – FFmpeg: The Incredible Technology Behind Video on the Internet
Clip time
3:11:43
Original source
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From this episode
Lex Fridman Podcast
Lex Fridman Podcast

#496 – FFmpeg: The Incredible Technology Behind Video on the Internet

May 6, 2026 · 5 Egleze moments
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