Description
The GNU C Library (aka glibc or libc6) before 2.12.2 and Embedded GLIBC (EGLIBC) allow context-dependent attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via a long UTF8 string that is used in an fnmatch call, aka a "stack extension attack," a related issue to CVE-2010-2898, CVE-2010-1917, and CVE-2007-4782, as originally reported for use of this library by Google Chrome.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | glibc | 2.11.2-12 | — |
| Debian 13 | glibc | 2.11.2-12 | — |
| Debian 12 | glibc | 2.11.2-12 | — |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 6 | nscd +6 | 2.12-1.7.el6_0.5 | RHSA-2011:0413 |
| RHEL 5 | nscd +6 | 2.5-58.el5_6.2 | RHSA-2011:0412 |
| RHEL 4 | nscd +8 | 2.3.4-2.57 | RHSA-2012:0125 |
Public exploits
Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.
Exploit-DB 1
- GNU glibc < 2.12.2 - 'fnmatch()' Stack Corruption EDB-17120 · dos · Feb 25, 2011
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
Advisories 3
- RHSA-2012:0125 Red Hat Security Advisory: glibc security and bug fix update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 28, 2026
- RHSA-2011:0413 Red Hat Security Advisory: glibc security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 26, 2026
- RHSA-2011:0412 Red Hat Security Advisory: glibc security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jan 29, 2026
References
- 46563 vdb-entry
- 8175 third-party-advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=681054
- 20111013 VMSA-2011-0012 VMware ESXi and ESX updates to third party libraries and ESX Service Console mailing-list
- 46397 third-party-advisory
- RHSA-2011:0412 vendor-advisory
- ADV-2011-0863 vdb-entry
- http://bugs.debian.org/615120
- 43989 third-party-advisory
- 1025290 vdb-entry
- http://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=11883
- 43492 third-party-advisory
- [oss-security] 20110228 cve request: eglibc memory corruption mailing-list
- oval:org.mitre.oval:def:12853 vdb-entry signature
- [oss-security] 20110228 Re: cve request: eglibc memory corruption mailing-list
- 20110224 glibc and alloca() mailing-list
- 20110226 Re: glibc and alloca() mailing-list
- MDVSA-2011:178 vendor-advisory
- 43830 third-party-advisory
- http://sourceware.org/git/?p=glibc.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=f15ce4d8dc139523fe0c273580b604b2453acba6
- RHSA-2011:0413 vendor-advisory
- http://scarybeastsecurity.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-got-accidental-code-execution-via.html
- http://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2011-0012.html
- [oss-security] 20110228 Re: cve request: eglibc memory corruption mailing-list
- http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=48733