# CVE-2012-6036: Memory corruption in n/a

> Local guest OS users can exploit missing checks in Xen TMEM to cause host crashes or execute arbitrary code via memory corruption.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.4 (`AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 23 Nov 2012
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2012-6036, GHSA-4m7r-jfv6-r27r

## What is CVE-2012-6036?

CVE-2012-6036 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Xen Xen, published on 23 Nov 2012. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The (1) memc_save_get_next_page, (2) tmemc_restore_put_page and (3) tmemc_restore_flush_page functions in the Transcendent Memory (TMEM) in Xen 4.0, 4.1, and 4.2 do not check for negative id pools, which allows local guest OS users to cause a denial of service (memory corruption and host crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors.  NOTE: this issue was originally published as part of CVE-2012-3497, which was too general; CVE-2012-3497 has been SPLIT into this ID and others.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-6036?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Xen Xen.

## How do I fix CVE-2012-6036?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2012-6036 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-6036 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Xen Xen

- [CVE-2017-10912](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-10912/): Privilege escalation in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2017-10918](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-10918/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2017-10920](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-10920/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2017-10921](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-10921/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2025-27466](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-27466/): Mutiple vulnerabilities in the Viridian interface (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2012-6036 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2012-6036 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Xen Xen, published on 23 Nov 2012. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-6036 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Xen Xen. 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-2012-6036/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-6036/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-6036
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-6036
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-6036

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-6036/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.