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Fencer Intel
low 2.1

CVE-2011-4922 json

cipher.c in the Cipher API in libpurple in Pidgin before 2.7.10 retains encryption-key data in process memory, which might allow local user…

published 2012-08-08 14 y ago modified 2026-06-16 4 mo ago also EUVD-2011-4833

cvss
2.1
version 2.0, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.3%
EPSS 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 23%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

cipher.c in the Cipher API in libpurple in Pidgin before 2.7.10 retains encryption-key data in process memory, which might allow local users to obtain sensitive information by reading a core file or other representation of memory contents.

Patch / fix

  • pidgin Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 2.7.11-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2011-4922

  • pidgin RHEL 6 2.7.9-3.el6
  • finch RHEL 6 2.7.9-3.el6
  • libpurple RHEL 6 2.7.9-3.el6
  • pidgin-perl RHEL 6 2.7.9-3.el6
  • libpurple-tcl RHEL 6 2.7.9-3.el6
  • libpurple-perl RHEL 6 2.7.9-3.el6

red hat advisories RHSA-2011:0616

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2011-4922 updated cvss 1.2

Cipher API information disclosure in pidgin

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 pidgin Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 pidgin
    affected: no fix planned “Will not fix”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) pidgin 2.7.9-3.el6, libpurple 2.7.9-3.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) finch 2.7.9-3.el6, pidgin 2.7.9-3.el6, pidgin-perl 2.7.9-3.el6, libpurple-tcl 2.7.9-3.el6, libpurple-perl 2.7.9-3.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) finch 2.7.9-3.el6, pidgin 2.7.9-3.el6, libpurple 2.7.9-3.el6, pidgin-perl 2.7.9-3.el6, libpurple-tcl 2.7.9-3.el6, libpurple-perl 2.7.9-3.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) pidgin 2.7.9-3.el6, libpurple 2.7.9-3.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) finch 2.7.9-3.el6, pidgin 2.7.9-3.el6, pidgin-perl 2.7.9-3.el6, libpurple-tcl 2.7.9-3.el6, libpurple-perl 2.7.9-3.el6
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2011:0616

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

0.31% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 23% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

  • hg.pidgin.im http://hg.pidgin.im/pidgin/main/rev/8c850977cb42 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 2.0 2.1 AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-200 Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.