CVE-2012-3406
The vfprintf function in stdio-common/vfprintf.c in GNU C Library (aka glibc) 2.5, 2.12, and probably other versions does not "properly restrict the use of" the alloca function when allocating the SPECS array, which allows context-dependent attackers to bypass the FORTIFY_SOURCE format-string protection mechanism and cause a denial of service (crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted format string using positional parameters and a large number of format specifiers, a different vulnerability than CVE-2012-3404 and CVE-2012-3405.
Key facts
- CVSS score
- 6.8 (v2.0)
- Severity
- MEDIUM
- CVSS vector
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P- Weakness (CWE)
- CWE-264
- EPSS score
- 3.2% (88th percentile)
- In CISA KEV
- No
- In EU EUVD
- Yes (EUVD-2012-3377)
- Published
- February 10, 2014
- NVD last modified
- June 16, 2026
- Status
- Modified
EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD)
This vulnerability is also tracked by ENISA as EUVD-2012-3377 in the EU Vulnerability Database. Last updated in EUVD on August 6, 2024.
View on the EU Vulnerability DatabaseAffected products
- canonical / ubuntu linux
- canonical / ubuntu linux
- canonical / ubuntu linux
- canonical / ubuntu linux
- canonical / ubuntu linux
- gnu / glibc
- gnu / glibc
- redhat / enterprise linux
- redhat / enterprise linux
- redhat / enterprise virtualization
Certified products that may be affected
6 FIPS 140 or Common Criteria certified products, from automated matching by sec-certs.org.
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 OpenSSH-Server Cryptographic Module - Red Hat®, Inc. - FIPS 140 1384 - historical
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 OpenSSH Client Cryptographic Module - Red Hat®, Inc. - FIPS 140 1385 - historical
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 OpenSwan Cryptographic Module - Red Hat®, Inc. - FIPS 140 1386 - historical
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Kernel Crypto API Cryptographic Module - Red Hat®, Inc. - FIPS 140 1387 - historical
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 OpenSSL Cryptographic Module - Red Hat®, Inc. - FIPS 140 1320 - historical
See all 6 in the Security Certifications Explorer.
References
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1097.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1098.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1185.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1200.html
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/07/11/17
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1589-1
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/attachment.cgi?id=594722
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=826943
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201503-04
Last updated September 17, 2026 · Source: NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST.org EPSS
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