CVE-2012-6538: Linux Kernel

Low severity, CVSS 1.9. EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

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.

Affected products

• Linux Linux Kernel: up to and including 3.5.7; version 3.0 only; version 3.0.1 only; version 3.0.2 only; version 3.0.3 only; version 3.0.4 only; …
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux: version 6.0 only

Published 2013-03-15. Last modified 2026-06-16.