# CVE-2012-1187: Privilege escalation in Bitlbee

> Bitlbee fails to drop extra group privileges correctly, allowing local attackers to escalate privileges.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 29 Oct 2019
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2012-1187, GHSA-h93j-297h-hcxm

## What is CVE-2012-1187?

CVE-2012-1187 is a critical vulnerability in Bitlbee, published on 29 Oct 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Bitlbee does not drop extra group privileges correctly in unix.c

Weakness: CWE-273 (Improper Check for Dropped Privileges)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-1187?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Bitlbee Bitlbee.

## How do I fix CVE-2012-1187?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2012-1187 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-1187 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Bitlbee

- [CVE-2016-10188](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-10188/): Use after free in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-5668](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-5668/): Null dereference in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-10189](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-10189/): Null dereference in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2008-3920](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-3920/): Unspecified vulnerability in BitlBee before 1.2.2 allows remote attackers to "recreate" and "hijack" existing accounts via unspecified vectors. (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2008-3969](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-3969/): Multiple unspecified vulnerabilities in BitlBee before 1.2.3 allow remote attackers to "overwrite" and "hijack" existing accounts via unknow (medium 5.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2012-1187 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2012-1187 is a critical vulnerability in Bitlbee, published on 29 Oct 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-1187 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Bitlbee. 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-2012-1187/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-1187/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-1187
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-1187
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-1187

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-1187/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.