CVE-2012-6538 Information disclosure in n/a

What is CVE-2012-6538?

CVE-2012-6538 is a low-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 14 Mar 2013. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

The copy_to_user_auth function in net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c in the Linux kernel before 3.6 uses an incorrect C library function for copying a string, which allows local users to obtain sensitive information from kernel heap memory by leveraging the CAP_NET_ADMIN capability.

Weakness: CWE-200

Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-6538?

It affects 2 products.

Products include Linux kernel, Redhat Enterprise Linux.

How do I fix CVE-2012-6538?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

Is CVE-2012-6538 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-6538 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

• CVE-2026-53266 Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2013-6282 Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2022-0185 Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2013-2094 Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2026-53362 Linux Kernel Unspecified Exploited High 7.8

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2012-6538, GHSA-q428-g62p-pgvx.