Heap-based buffer overflow in Bash - CVE-2012-6711
Published: May 23, 2025
Vulnerability identifier: #VU109674
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4.0: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear
CVE-ID: CVE-2012-6711
CWE-ID: CWE-122
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vendor: GNU
Affected software:
Bash
Bash
Detailed vulnerability description
The vulnerability allows a local user to escalate privileges on the system.
The vulnerability exists due to a boundary error within the ansicstr() function in lib/sh/strtrans.c when wide characters, not supported by the current locale set in the LC_CTYPE environment variable, are printed through the echo built-in function. A local user can trigger a heap-based buffer overflow and escalate privileges on the system.
How to mitigate CVE-2012-6711
Install updates from vendor's website.
Sources
- http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/bash.git/commit/?h=devel&id=863d31ae775d56b785dc5b0105b6d251515d81d5
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1721071
- https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K05122252
- https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K05122252?utm_source=f5support&utm_medium=RSS
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4180-1/