glibc: printf() unbound alloca() usage in case of positional parameters + many format specs
Published Feb 10, 2014
6.8
MEDIUMCVSS 2.0
EPSS 3.16%
Description
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.
Affected products
No data.
- 2.5
- 2.12
- 3.0
- 8.04
- 10.04
- 11.04
- 11.10
- 12.04
- 5
- 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 5
glibc-0:2.5-81.el5_8.4
Fixed · RHSA-2012:1097
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
glibc-0:2.12-1.80.el6_3.3
Fixed · RHSA-2012:1098
| 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 5 | glibc-0:2.5-81.el5_8.4 | Fixed | RHSA-2012:1097 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | glibc-0:2.12-1.80.el6_3.3 | Fixed | RHSA-2012:1098 |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
No remediation recorded yet.
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:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/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 (11 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 3.16% (0.03163) | 87.54th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 3.16% (0.03163) | 86.29th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Mar 30, 2025 | 1.13% (0.01133) | 76.40th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 29, 2025 | 2.78% (0.02781) | 76.73th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 1.13% (0.01133) | 76.87th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 0.32% (0.00324) | 71.56th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Feb 8, 2024 | 0.32% (0.00324) | 69.91th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.32% (0.00324) | 66.00th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 2.65% (0.02646) | 82.22th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 2.65% (0.02646) | 80.46th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 2.65% (0.02646) | 61.82th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
References (12)
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1097.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1098.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1185.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-2012-3406 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/attachment.cgi?id=594722 x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=826943 x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue Tracking
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-3406
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201503-04 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_GENTOO
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-3406
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1097.html | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT | |
| http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1098.html | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT | |
| http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1185.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-2012-3406 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/attachment.cgi?id=594722 | x_refsource_CONFIRM | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=826943 | x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue Tracking | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-3406 | ||
| https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201503-04 | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_GENTOO | |
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-3406 |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.