How severe is CVE-2019-12972?

CVE-2019-12972 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2019-12972 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 2% (76th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2019-12972?

CVE-2019-12972 primarily affects Gnu Binutils. In total, 4 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2019-12972?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.

When was CVE-2019-12972 published?

CVE-2019-12972 was published on 2019-06-26 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2019-12972

CVE-2019-12972 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Gnu Binutils with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-125.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 5.5)
CVSS v2: 4.3
EPSS exploit prediction: 2% (76th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-125
Affected product: Gnu Binutils
Published: 2019-06-26
Last modified: 2026-06-17

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.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-12972?: 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.
How severe is CVE-2019-12972?: CVE-2019-12972 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2019-12972 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 2% (76th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2019-12972?: CVE-2019-12972 primarily affects Gnu Binutils. In total, 4 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2019-12972?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
When was CVE-2019-12972 published?: CVE-2019-12972 was published on 2019-06-26 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (4)

cpe:2.3:a:gnu:binutils:2.32:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*

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