{"id":"CVE-2012-3524","url":"https://www.cyber-defence.io/tools/cve/CVE-2012-3524","generatedAt":"2026-10-27T23:19:49.924Z","title":"libdbus 1.5.x and earlier, when used in setuid or other privileged programs in X.org and possibly other products, allows local users to gain privileges and execute arbitrary code via the DBUS_SYSTEM_BUS_ADDRESS environment variable.","description":"libdbus 1.5.x and earlier, when used in setuid or other privileged programs in X.org and possibly other products, allows local users to gain privileges and execute arbitrary code via the DBUS_SYSTEM_BUS_ADDRESS environment variable.  NOTE: libdbus maintainers state that this is a vulnerability in the applications that do not cleanse environment variables, not in libdbus itself: \"we do not support use of libdbus in setuid binaries that do not sanitize their environment before their first call into libdbus.\"","published":"2012-09-18T17:55:01.000Z","lastModified":"2026-06-16T23:43:24.000Z","status":"Modified","sourceIdentifier":"secalert@redhat.com","cvss":{"version":"2.0","score":6.9,"severity":"MEDIUM","vector":"AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C"},"cwe":["CWE-264"],"affected":["freedesktop/libdbus"],"epss":{"score":0.04477,"percentile":0.91393,"date":"2026-10-26","history":[]},"kev":{"listed":false},"exploits":{"count":1,"verified":false,"firstPublished":"2012-07-17","source":"Exploit-DB (https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb)","entries":[{"edbId":21323,"kind":"exploit","title":"libdbus - 'DBUS_SYSTEM_BUS_ADDRESS' Local Privilege Escalation","url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/21323","sourceUrl":"https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb/-/blob/main/exploits/linux/local/21323.c","file":"exploits/linux/local/21323.c","published":"2012-07-17","added":"2012-09-14","updated":"2012-09-14","author":"Sebastian Krahmer","type":"local","platform":"linux","port":null,"verified":false,"codes":["CVE-2012-3524","OSVDB-85480","CVE-2012-4425"],"tags":null,"aliases":null,"applicationUrl":null,"screenshotUrl":null,"referenceUrl":null}]},"verdict":{"level":"high","text":"A public exploit is published in Exploit-DB, so the technical barrier is gone even though the severity is medium and EPSS is 4.5%. Treat it as high on anything reachable from the internet."},"changes":[],"references":[{"url":"http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2012-09/msg00009.html","source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2012-09/msg00015.html","source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2012-10/msg00000.html","source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2012-10/msg00094.html","source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1261.html","source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://secunia.com/advisories/50537","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://secunia.com/advisories/50544","source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://secunia.com/advisories/50710","source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://stealth.openwall.net/null/dzug.c","tags":["Exploit"],"source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/21323","tags":["Exploit"],"source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2013:070","source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2013:083","source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/07/10/4","source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/07/26/1","source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/09/12/6","source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/09/14/2","source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/09/17/2","source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/55517","tags":["Exploit"],"source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1576-1","source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1576-2","source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=52202","tags":["Patch"],"source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=697105","source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=847402","source":"secalert@redhat.com"},{"url":"http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2012-09/msg00009.html","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2012-09/msg00015.html","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2012-10/msg00000.html","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2012-10/msg00094.html","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1261.html","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://secunia.com/advisories/50537","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://secunia.com/advisories/50544","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://secunia.com/advisories/50710","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://stealth.openwall.net/null/dzug.c","tags":["Exploit"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/21323","tags":["Exploit"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2013:070","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2013:083","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/07/10/4","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/07/26/1","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/09/12/6","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/09/14/2","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/09/17/2","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/55517","tags":["Exploit"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1576-1","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1576-2","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=52202","tags":["Patch"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=697105","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=847402","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"}],"sources":{"nvd":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-3524","epss":"https://www.first.org/epss/","kev":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","exploitdb":"https://www.exploit-db.com/"},"licence":"CC BY 4.0 — link back to the CVE Explorer if you publish the results; upstream data remains subject to its own terms."}