diff --git a/libavcodec/smacker.c b/libavcodec/smacker.c
index 30f99b488d..2a8bae8a1b 100644
--- a/libavcodec/smacker.c
+++ b/libavcodec/smacker.c
@@ -259,6 +259,11 @@ static int smacker_decode_header_tree(SmackVContext *smk, GetBitContext *gb, int
     if(ctx.last[0] == -1) ctx.last[0] = huff.current++;
     if(ctx.last[1] == -1) ctx.last[1] = huff.current++;
     if(ctx.last[2] == -1) ctx.last[2] = huff.current++;
+    if(huff.current > huff.length){
+        ctx.last[0] = ctx.last[1] = ctx.last[2] = 1;
+        av_log(smk->avctx, AV_LOG_ERROR, "bigtree damaged\n");
+        return -1;
+    }
 
     *recodes = huff.values;