# CVE-2012-3461: Memory corruption in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause a denial of service via heap-based buffer overflow in libotr when decoding specific base64 strings.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`AV:N/AC:M/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:** 20 Aug 2012
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2012-3461, DSA-2526-1, GHSA-gwfv-2hfv-wqmr

## What is CVE-2012-3461?

CVE-2012-3461 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in n/a, published on 20 Aug 2012. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The (1) otrl_base64_otr_decode function in src/b64.c; (2) otrl_proto_data_read_flags and (3) otrl_proto_accept_data functions in src/proto.c; and (4) decode function in toolkit/parse.c in libotr before 3.2.1 allocates a zero-length buffer when decoding a base64 string, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a message with the value "?OTR:===.", which triggers a heap-based buffer overflow.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-3461?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cypherpunks Libotr.

## How do I fix CVE-2012-3461?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2012-3461 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-3461 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2016-2851](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-2851/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2012-3461 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2012-3461 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in n/a, published on 20 Aug 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-2012-3461 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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-2012-3461/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-3461/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-3461
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-3461
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-3461

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-3461/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.