What is CVE-2012-6538?

CVE-2012-6538 is a Low severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 1.9 out of 10, classified as a Information Exposure flaw (CWE-200). CVE-2012-6538 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2012-6538?

CVE-2012-6538 has a CVSS score of 1.9 out of 10, rated Low severity. The vector string is AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2012-6538?

No patch is currently available for CVE-2012-6538. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.

Is CVE-2012-6538 actively exploited?

CVE-2012-6538 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is Information Exposure (CWE-200)?

The product exposes sensitive information to an actor not authorised to see it. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/200.html

CVE-2012-6538

Low

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.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2013-03-15

Last modified 2026-04-29

CVSS version 2.0

Patch available

Awaiting data

CVSS 2.0 score

1.9

out of 10

Low

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Privileges Required

User Interaction

Scope

Confidentiality

Integrity

None

Availability

None

Vector string

AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

Weakness type

CWE-200

CVE-2012-6538 is a Information Exposure vulnerability

What is Information Exposure?

The product exposes sensitive information to an actor not authorised to see it. Learn more on MITRE CWE

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2012-6538 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Red Hat
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-0744.html
Openwall
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/03/05/13
Kernel patch commit
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=4c87308bdea31a7b4828a51f6156e6f721a1fcc9
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/4c87308bdea31a7b4828a51f6156e6f721a1fcc9
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v3.x/patch-3.6.bz2
Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2012-6538

Severity Low

CVSS score 1.9 / 10

CVSS version 2.0

Published 2013-03-15

Modified 2026-04-29

KEV No

Patch Awaiting data

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2012-6538?

CVE-2012-6538 is a Low severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 1.9 out of 10 , classified as an Information Exposure flaw (CWE-200) . CVE-2012-6538 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2012-6538?

CVE-2012-6538 has a CVSS score of 1.9 out of 10, rated Low severity (CVSS 2.0). The vector string is AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2012-6538?

No patch is currently available for CVE-2012-6538. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.
Is CVE-2012-6538 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2012-6538 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.
What is Information Exposure (CWE-200)?

The product exposes sensitive information to an actor not authorised to see it. View CWE-200 on MITRE CWE →