CVE-2012-5195

Heap-based buffer overflow in the Perl_repeatcpy function in util.c in Perl 5.12.x before 5.12.5, 5.14.x before 5.14.3, and 5.15.x before 15.15.5 allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption and crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via the 'x' string repeat operator.

Published: 2012-12-18 Last update: 2026-04-29 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2012-5195 is rated Moderate Risk (60.3/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 5.28%). 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-2012-5195

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 2026-02-27 6.45% 5.28% -1.17%
2 2025-12-28 2.74% 6.45% +3.71%
3 2025-12-27 — 2.74% —

Full EPSS history (16 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2012-5195

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-2012-5195

OS Trackers for CVE-2012-5195

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2012-5195 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (perl), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2012-5195
gentoo normal CVE-2012-5195: 1 GLSA(s) (201401-11), 2 atom(s) (dev-lang/perl, perl-core/locale-maketext); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2012-5195
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2012-5195
ubuntu medium CVE-2012-5195 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (perl), 7 status rows across 7 suites (hardy, lucid, natty, oneiric, precise, quantal, upstream): released 6, ignored 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2012-5195

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2012-5195

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
perl perl 5.12.0 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.12.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.12.0 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.12.0:rc0:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.12.0 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.12.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.12.0 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.12.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.12.0 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.12.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.12.0 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.12.0:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.12.0 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.12.0:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.12.1 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.12.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.12.1 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.12.1:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.12.1 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.12.1:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.12.2 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.12.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.12.2 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.12.2:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.12.3 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.12.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.12.3 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.12.3:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.12.3 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.12.3:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.12.3 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.12.3:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.12.4 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.12.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.14.0 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.14.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.14.0 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.14.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.14.0 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.14.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.14.0 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.14.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.14.1 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.14.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
perl perl 5.14.2 cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:5.14.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2012-5195

URL Tags
http://kb.juniper.net/InfoCenter/index?page=content&id=JSA10673
http://kb.juniper.net/InfoCenter/index?page=content&id=JSA10705
http://kb.juniper.net/InfoCenter/index?page=content&id=JSA10735
http://perl5.git.perl.org/perl.git/commit/2709980d5a193ce6f3a16f0d19879a6560dcde44 Patch Vendor Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-0685.html
http://secunia.com/advisories/51457 Vendor Advisory
http://secunia.com/advisories/55314
http://www.debian.org/security/2012/dsa-2586
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2013:113
http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2012/10/msg193886.html
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/10/26/2
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/10/27/1
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/ovmbulletinjul2016-3090546.html
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/56287
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1643-1
https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Support/Advisories/MGASA-2012-0352
cvelogic Threat Intelligence