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Fencer Intel
high 7.2

CVE-2012-2123 json

The cap_bprm_set_creds function in security/commoncap.c in the Linux kernel before 3.3.3 does not properly handle the use of file system ca…

published 2012-05-17 14 y ago modified 2026-06-16 4 mo ago also EUVD-2012-2125

cvss
7.2
version 2.0, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.4%
EPSS 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 34%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

The cap_bprm_set_creds function in security/commoncap.c in the Linux kernel before 3.3.3 does not properly handle the use of file system capabilities (aka fcaps) for implementing a privileged executable file, which allows local users to bypass intended personality restrictions via a crafted application, as demonstrated by an attack that uses a parent process to disable ASLR.

Patch / fix

  • linux linux_kernel 3.0.29, 3.2.16, 3.3.3
  • kernel RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6
  • perf RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6
  • python-perf RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6
  • kernel-kdump RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6
  • kernel-firmware RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6
  • kernel-bootwrapper RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64 RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6

red hat advisories RHSA-2012:0743RHSA-2012:0670

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-2012-2123 updated cvss 1.9

kernel: fcaps: clear the same personality flags as suid when fcaps are used

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 kernel
    affected: no fix planned “Will not fix”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) kernel 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) kernel 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-kdump 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-bootwrapper 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, +3 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) kernel 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6
    +2 more products
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) kernel 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.23.1.el6
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2012:0743
  • Red Hat MRG Realtime for RHEL 6 Server v.2 kernel-rt 3.0.30-rt50.62.el6rt, kernel-rt-trace 3.0.30-rt50.62.el6rt, kernel-rt-vanilla 3.0.30-rt50.62.el6rt, kernel-rt-firmware 3.0.30-rt50.62.el6rt, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.0.30-rt50.62.el6rt
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2012:0670
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 kernel
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

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

0.40% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 34% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 2.0 7.2 AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-264 Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls
Technology feeds

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.