# CVE-2012-3406: Memory corruption in n/a

> Attackers can cause crashes or execute code by exploiting a flaw in glibc's vfprintf function that bypasses format-string protections.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/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:** 10 Feb 2014
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2012-3406, GHSA-8mj9-m673-h2gf, RHSA-2012:1097

## What is CVE-2012-3406?

CVE-2012-3406 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 10 Feb 2014. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The vfprintf function in stdio-common/vfprintf.c in GNU C Library (aka glibc) 2.5, 2.12, and probably other versions does not "properly restrict the use of" the alloca function when allocating the SPECS array, which allows context-dependent attackers to bypass the FORTIFY_SOURCE format-string protection mechanism and cause a denial of service (crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted format string using positional parameters and a large number of format specifiers, a different vulnerability than CVE-2012-3404 and CVE-2012-3405.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-3406?

It affects 4 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `glibc` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.5-81.el5_8.4 |
| `glibc-common` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.5-81.el5_8.4 |
| `glibc-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.5-81.el5_8.4 |
| `glibc-debuginfo-common` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.5-81.el5_8.4 |
| `glibc-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.5-81.el5_8.4 |
| `glibc-headers` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.5-81.el5_8.4 |
| `glibc-utils` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.5-81.el5_8.4 |
| `nscd` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.5-81.el5_8.4 |
| `glibc` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.5-81.el5_8.4 |
| `glibc-common` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.5-81.el5_8.4 |
| `glibc-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.5-81.el5_8.4 |
| `glibc-debuginfo-common` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.5-81.el5_8.4 |
| `glibc-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.5-81.el5_8.4 |
| `glibc-headers` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.5-81.el5_8.4 |
| `glibc-utils` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.5-81.el5_8.4 |
| `nscd` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.5-81.el5_8.4 |

Products: Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Gnu Glibc, Redhat Enterprise Linux, Redhat Enterprise Virtualization.

## How do I fix CVE-2012-3406?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2012-3406 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-3406 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Canonical Ubuntu Linux

- [CVE-2020-11651](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11651/): SaltStack Salt Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-7247](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7247/): OpenSMTPD Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-16928](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16928/): Exim Out-of-bounds Write (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-6789](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6789/): Exim Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2015-2590](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-2590/): Oracle Java SE and Java SE Embedded Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2012-3406 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2012-3406 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 10 Feb 2014. 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-2012-3406 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Canonical Ubuntu Linux. 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-2012-3406/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-3406/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-3406
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-3406
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-3406

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-3406/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.