CVE-2019-12972: canonical ubuntu_linux Out-of-bounds Read
Vulnerability summary
CVE-2019-12972 is a medium (CVSS 5.5) Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability in canonical ubuntu_linux. EPSS estimates a 1.80% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 78.1% of scored vulnerabilities. 1 public exploit is recorded.
Advisory lineage
Upstream 0 · Downstream 8 · Related 8Timeline
- 26-06-2019PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
- 08-10-2026Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.
Description
An issue was discovered in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd), as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.32. There is a heap-based buffer over-read in _bfd_doprnt in bfd.c because elf_object_p in elfcode.h mishandles an e_shstrndx section of type SHT_GROUP by omitting a trailing '\0' character.
CVSS metrics
4 scores · 3 sources · 2 versions- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated5.5MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- OSV · DebianEcosystem advisory · calculated5.5MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS trend
Probability
1.80%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days
Percentile
78%
Versus all other CVEs
30-day change
0.00 pp
From 1.80% on 18-09-2026
Known exploited
Compare KEV catalogsNot in any of the 3 tracked catalogs.
Public exploits
1 foundExploit Reference (sourceware.org)
Maturity: unknown
Weaknesses
CWE · root causeAffected systems
Canonical1 product
- ubuntu_linuxEOL18.04
Debian1 product
- binutils< 2.32.51.20190707-1
Gnu1 product
- binutils2.32
Opensuse1 product
- leapEOL15.1 | 15.2
Ubuntu1 product
- binutilsAll versions (No fix recorded) | < 2.26.1-1ubuntu1~16.04.8+esm1 | < 2.30-21ubuntu1~18.04.3
5 vendors · 5 products
References
13 links- sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=24689X Refsource MISCExploitIssue TrackingPatchThird Party Advisory
- lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-10/msg00078.htmlVendor AdvisoryX Refsource SUSEMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-11/msg00004.htmlVendor AdvisoryX Refsource SUSEMailing ListThird Party Advisory
