In 2019, the German Cyber-Security firm CERT-Bund stated that they found a major security flaw in the app that could put “ millions of users at risk”. The flaw can enable hackers to execute malicious viruses remotely, interrupt service and disclose private files. According to the Nation Vulnerability database (NSIT) it was labelled as ‘critical’.
However, it was discovered that the virus had nothing to with hackers or malicious software. Rather - it had to do with an older version of the app being used with an older version of Ubuntu. CERT-Bund never released any reports countering their first declaration. Furthermore, the VLC developers also stated that the issue has been resolved.