# CVE-2012-0406: Null dereference in n/a

> Remote attackers can crash the EMC Data Protection Advisor daemon by sending a malformed authentication command, causing a denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 20 Apr 2012
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-c89x-5pjq-9q65

## What is CVE-2012-0406?

CVE-2012-0406 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 20 Apr 2012. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The DPA_Utilities.cProcessAuthenticationData function in EMC Data Protection Advisor (DPA) 5.5 through 5.8 SP1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and daemon crash) via an AUTHENTICATECONNECTION command that (1) lacks a password field or (2) has an empty password.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-0406?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Emc Data Protection Advisor.

## How do I fix CVE-2012-0406?

No fix has been published for CVE-2012-0406 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2012-0406 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2012-0406 exists.

Public exploit code:

- EMC Data Protection Advisor 5.8.1 - Denial of Service (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2017-8013](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-8013/): Hardcoded credentials in EMC Data Protection Advisor (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-10955](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-10955/): Command injection in Dell EMC Data Protection Advisor (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2017-8002](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-8002/): SQL injection in EMC Data Protection Advisor prior to 6.4 (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2018-1206](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1206/): Hardcoded credentials in Dell EMC Data Protection Advisor versions prior to 6.3 Patch 159 and Dell EMC Data Protection Advisor versions prior to 6.4 Patch 110 (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2012-4616](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-4616/): Path traversal in n/a (medium 5.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2012-0406 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2012-0406 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 20 Apr 2012. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2012-0406 exists.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2012-0406/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-0406/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-0406
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-0406
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-0406

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-0406/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.