Ubuntu version of VLC browser (npapi) plugin fails to play xspf playlist files and without any meaningful error messaages. The windows 2.0.5 version of the same plugin plays xspf playlists fine. Having checked the source, the browser plugin does not appear to have been built from the latest 2.0.x source code and is hence not in step with the other VLC packages. This results in diminshed functionality and the possibility of unpatched security vulnerabilities.
To reproduce the problem:
1) create the following simple html page:
------
<html>
<body>
<embed type="application/x-vlc-plugin" pluginspage="http://www.videolan.org" id="player" mrl="bbb.xspf">
</embed>
<embed type="application/x-vlc-plugin" pluginspage="http://www.videolan.org" id="player2" mrl="http://mirrorblender.top-ix.org/peach/bigbuckbunny_movies/big_buck_bunny_480p_stereo.ogg">
</embed>
</body>
-------
2) Open VLC. Use Media -> Open Network Stream -> Enqueue to create a simple playlist of one item. Use the following URL: http://mirrorblender.top-ix.org/peach/bigbuckbunny_movies/big_buck_bunny_480p_stereo.ogg
Save the playlist as bbb.xspf in the same location as the web page.
3) Ensure any 'competing' plugins e.g. totem have been disabled or uninstalled
4) Open the page you created earlier using Firefox or other compatible browser
The video on the right will play fine. The one on the left (using the playlist) will not.
5) Open the same page on a Windows machine with VLC 2.0.5 installed. Both videos will play fine.
ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: browser-plugin-vlc 2.0.0-1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-39.41-lowlatency-pae 3.2.39
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-39-lowlatency-pae i686
ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu17.1
Architecture: i386
Date: Mon Mar 25 18:12:20 2013
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-Studio 12.04.2 "Precise Pangolin" - Release i386 (20130213)
MarkForUpload: True
ProcEnviron:
LANGUAGE=en_GB:en
TERM=xterm
PATH=(custom, no user)
LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: npapi-vlc
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
Thanks for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. We appreciate the difficulties you are facing, but this appears to be a "regular" (non-security) bug. I have unmarked it as a security issue since this bug does not show evidence of allowing attackers to cross privilege boundaries nor directly cause loss of data/privacy. Please feel free to report any other bugs you may find.