CVE-2012-2840

Off-by-one error in the exif_convert_utf16_to_utf8 function in exif-entry.c in the EXIF Tag Parsing Library (aka libexif) before 0.6.21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly execute arbitrary code via crafted EXIF tags in an image.

Published: 2012-07-13 Last update: 2026-04-29 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2012-2840 is rated Moderate Risk (60.1/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 2.40%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2012-2840

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-05-28 2.17% 2.40% +0.23%
2 2025-03-30 5.97% 2.17% -3.80%
3 2025-03-29 — 5.97% —

Full EPSS history (10 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2012-2840

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2012-2840

OS Trackers for CVE-2012-2840

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2012-2840: 1 source package rows (libexif); 10 state rows across 10 repos (3.10-main, 3.11-main, 3.12-main, 3.17-community, 3.18-community, 3.19-community, 3.20-community, 3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 10, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2012-2840
debian not yet assigned CVE-2012-2840 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libexif), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2012-2840
gentoo normal CVE-2012-2840: 1 GLSA(s) (201401-10), 2 atom(s) (media-gfx/exif, media-libs/libexif); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2012-2840
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2012-2840
suse high CVE-2012-2840 severity important: SUSE including 23 source package names (libexif-0.6.17-2.14.1, libexif-32bit-0.6.17-2.14.1, …), 57 product×package rows across 33 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP1, … (33 product lines)): Fixed 57. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2012-2840/
ubuntu low CVE-2012-2840 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libexif), 6 status rows across 6 suites (hardy, lucid, natty, oneiric, precise, upstream): released 6. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2012-2840

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2012-2840

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
libexif_project libexif <= 0.6.20 cpe:2.3:a:libexif_project:libexif:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
libexif_project libexif 0.6.14 cpe:2.3:a:libexif_project:libexif:0.6.14:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
libexif_project libexif 0.6.15 cpe:2.3:a:libexif_project:libexif:0.6.15:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
libexif_project libexif 0.6.16 cpe:2.3:a:libexif_project:libexif:0.6.16:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
libexif_project libexif 0.6.18 cpe:2.3:a:libexif_project:libexif:0.6.18:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
libexif_project libexif 0.6.19 cpe:2.3:a:libexif_project:libexif:0.6.19:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2012-2840

cvelogic Threat Intelligence