glibc: incorrect size calculation in formatted printing can lead to FORTIFY_SOURCE format string protection bypass
Published Feb 10, 2014
5.0
MEDIUMCVSS 2.0
EPSS 2.23%
Description
The vfprintf function in stdio-common/vfprintf.c in libc in GNU C Library (aka glibc) 2.12 and other versions does not properly calculate a buffer length, which allows context-dependent attackers to bypass the FORTIFY_SOURCE format-string protection mechanism and cause a denial of service (stack corruption and crash) via a format string that uses positional parameters and many format specifiers.
Affected products
No data.
- 2.12
- 3.0
- 8.04
- 10.04
- 11.04
- 11.10
- 12.04
- 6.0
No data.
RHEV 3.X Hypervisor and Agents for RHEL-6
rhev-hypervisor6-0:6.3-20120815.0.el6_3
Fixed · RHSA-2012:1200
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
glibc-0:2.12-1.80.el6_3.3
Fixed · RHSA-2012:1098
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
glibc
Not affected
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEV 3.X Hypervisor and Agents for RHEL-6 | rhev-hypervisor6-0:6.3-20120815.0.el6_3 | Fixed | RHSA-2012:1200 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | glibc-0:2.12-1.80.el6_3.3 | Fixed | RHSA-2012:1098 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | glibc | Not affected | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat statement
This issue did not affect the version of glibc as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.1 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.0 score for this CVE.
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 1, 2026.
Score over time
2022–2026- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Percentile over time
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Table of values (13 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 2.23% (0.02225) | 82.09th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 2.23% (0.02225) | 80.35th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 0.78% (0.00778) | 71.97th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 1.56% (0.01556) | 87.70th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Sep 23, 2023 | 1.56% (0.01556) | 85.65th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Aug 7, 2023 | 1.30% (0.01297) | 84.10th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 1.47% (0.01473) | 84.69th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 1.11% (0.01108) | 55.18th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 13, 2023 | 1.11% (0.01108) | 54.62th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2023 | 1.54% (0.01537) | 73.85th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Sep 17, 2022 | 1.11% (0.01108) | 53.57th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 1.11% (0.01108) | 51.54th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 1.11% (0.01108) | 29.61th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
References (10)
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1098.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1200.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/07/11/17 mailing-listx_refsource_MLIST
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1589-1 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTU
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2012-3404 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=833703 x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue Tracking
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-3404
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201503-04 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_GENTOO
- https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=12445 x_refsource_CONFIRMExploitPatch
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-3404
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1098.html | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT | |
| http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1200.html | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT | |
| http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/07/11/17 | mailing-listx_refsource_MLIST | |
| http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1589-1 | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTU | |
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2012-3404 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=833703 | x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue Tracking | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-3404 | ||
| https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201503-04 | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_GENTOO | |
| https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=12445 | x_refsource_CONFIRMExploitPatch | |
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-3404 |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.