# CVE-2011-2178: Information disclosure in n/a

> Guest OS users can read arbitrary host files due to a memory size calculation error in libvirt's security manager.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.4 (`AV:L/AC:M/Au:S/C:C/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 10 Aug 2011
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2011-2178, GHSA-5383-rqrv-fg4g

## What is CVE-2011-2178?

CVE-2011-2178 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Redhat Libvirt, published on 10 Aug 2011. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The virSecurityManagerGetPrivateData function in security/security_manager.c in libvirt 0.8.8 through 0.9.1 uses the wrong argument for a sizeof call, which causes incorrect processing of "security manager private data" that "reopens disk probing" and might allow guest OS users to read arbitrary files on the host OS.  NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of a CVE-2010-2238 regression.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2011-2178?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Redhat Libvirt.

## How do I fix CVE-2011-2178?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2011-2178 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2011-2178 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Redhat Libvirt

- [CVE-2013-4401](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-4401/): Missing authorization in n/a (high 8.5)
- [CVE-2017-2635](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-2635/): Null dereference in libvirt (high 7.7)
- [CVE-2013-4400](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-4400/): Privilege escalation in n/a (high 7.2)
- [CVE-2013-4291](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-4291/): Privilege escalation in n/a (medium 6.9)
- [CVE-2011-1146](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-1146/): Missing authorization in n/a (medium 6.9)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2011-2178 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2011-2178 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Redhat Libvirt, published on 10 Aug 2011. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2011-2178 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Redhat Libvirt. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-2178/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-2178/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2011-2178
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2011-2178
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2011-2178

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-2178/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.