# CVE-2012-1569: Integer overflow in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause denial of service or potential code execution via crafted ASN.1 structures due to improper handling of large length values in Libtasn1.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 26 Mar 2012
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DSA-2440-1, GHSA-jcv4-2hjq-vv2c, RHSA-2012:0427

## What is CVE-2012-1569?

CVE-2012-1569 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Gnu Gnutls, published on 26 Mar 2012. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The asn1_get_length_der function in decoding.c in GNU Libtasn1 before 2.12, as used in GnuTLS before 3.0.16 and other products, does not properly handle certain large length values, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (heap memory corruption and application crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted ASN.1 structure.

Weakness: CWE-189

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-1569?

It affects 2 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `libtasn1` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client | All versions | 0:2.3-3.el6_2.1 |
| `libtasn1-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client | All versions | 0:2.3-3.el6_2.1 |
| `libtasn1-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client | All versions | 0:2.3-3.el6_2.1 |
| `libtasn1-tools` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client | All versions | 0:2.3-3.el6_2.1 |
| `libtasn1` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode | All versions | 0:2.3-3.el6_2.1 |
| `libtasn1-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode | All versions | 0:2.3-3.el6_2.1 |
| `libtasn1-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode | All versions | 0:2.3-3.el6_2.1 |
| `libtasn1-tools` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode | All versions | 0:2.3-3.el6_2.1 |
| `libtasn1` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server | All versions | 0:2.3-3.el6_2.1 |
| `libtasn1-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server | All versions | 0:2.3-3.el6_2.1 |
| `libtasn1-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server | All versions | 0:2.3-3.el6_2.1 |
| `libtasn1-tools` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server | All versions | 0:2.3-3.el6_2.1 |
| `libtasn1` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation | All versions | 0:2.3-3.el6_2.1 |
| `libtasn1-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation | All versions | 0:2.3-3.el6_2.1 |
| `libtasn1-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation | All versions | 0:2.3-3.el6_2.1 |
| `libtasn1-tools` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation | All versions | 0:2.3-3.el6_2.1 |

Products: Gnu Gnutls, Gnu Libtasn1.

## How do I fix CVE-2012-1569?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2012-1569 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-1569 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Gnu Gnutls

- [CVE-2008-1948](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1948/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2017-5334](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-5334/): Use after free in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-5336](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-5336/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-5337](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-5337/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2008-1949](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1949/): Null dereference in n/a (critical 9.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2012-1569 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2012-1569 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Gnu Gnutls, published on 26 Mar 2012. 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-2012-1569 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Gnu Gnutls. 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-2012-1569/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-1569/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-1569
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-1569
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-1569

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-1569/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.