# CVE-2012-2738: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause a denial of service in GNOME Terminal via a crafted escape sequence with a large repeat count, requiring user interaction.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:N/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 22 Jul 2012
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2012-2738, DEBIAN-CVE-2012-2738, GHSA-55r6-7773-xfwg, OESA-2022-1648, openSUSE-SU-2024:10407-1

## What is CVE-2012-2738?

CVE-2012-2738 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 22 Jul 2012. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

The VteTerminal in gnome-terminal (vte) before 0.32.2 allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (long loop and CPU consumption) via an escape sequence with a large repeat count value.

Weakness: CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-2738?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Nalin Dahyabhai Vte.

## How do I fix CVE-2012-2738?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2012-2738 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2012-2738 exists.

Public exploit code:

- gnome-terminal (vte) VteTerminal - Escape Sequence Parsing Remote Denial of Service (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2010-2713](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-2713/): Command injection in n/a (medium 6.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2012-2738 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2012-2738 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 22 Jul 2012. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2012-2738 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-2012-2738/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-2738/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-2738
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-2738
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-2738

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-2738/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.