Vulnerability Monitor

The vendors, products, and vulnerabilities you care about

CVE-2012-1823

sapi/cgi/cgi_main.c in PHP before 5.3.12 and 5.4.x before 5.4.2, when configured as a CGI script (aka php-cgi), does not properly handle query strings that lack an = (equals sign) character, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by placing command-line options in the query string, related to lack of skipping a certain php_getopt for the 'd' case.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a CRITICAL severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 9.8, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 17 products from php, from fedoraproject, from debian and 14 others, organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Documented in 2012, this vulnerability occurred amid the cloud computing expansion era, where traditional network perimeter security models were being reevaluated. Organizations were transitioning from isolated infrastructure to interconnected systems, creating new attack surfaces that vulnerabilities like this could exploit.

Published

2012-05-11T10:15:48.043

Last Modified

2026-04-21T20:28:53.150

Status

Analyzed

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 9.8 (CRITICAL)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

  • Access Vector: NETWORK
  • Access Complexity: LOW
  • Authentication: NONE
  • Confidentiality Impact: PARTIAL
  • Integrity Impact: PARTIAL
  • Availability Impact: PARTIAL
Exploitability Score

10.0

Impact Score

6.4

Weaknesses
  • Type: Primary
    CWE-77
  • Type: Secondary
    CWE-77
Affected Vendors & Products
Type Vendor Product Version/Range Vulnerable?
Application php php < 5.3.12 Yes
Application php php < 5.4.2 Yes
Operating System fedoraproject fedora 39 Yes
Operating System fedoraproject fedora 40 Yes
Operating System debian debian_linux 6.0 Yes
Operating System hp hp-ux b.11.23 Yes
Operating System hp hp-ux b.11.31 Yes
Operating System opensuse opensuse 11.4 Yes
Operating System opensuse opensuse 12.1 Yes
Operating System suse linux_enterprise_server 10 Yes
Operating System suse linux_enterprise_server 11 Yes
Operating System suse linux_enterprise_server 11 Yes
Operating System suse linux_enterprise_software_development_kit 10 Yes
Operating System suse linux_enterprise_software_development_kit 11 Yes
Operating System apple mac_os_x < 10.7.5 Yes
Operating System apple mac_os_x < 10.8.2 Yes
Application redhat application_stack 2.0 Yes
Application redhat gluster_storage_server_for_on-premise 2.0 Yes
Application redhat storage 2.0 Yes
Application redhat storage_for_public_cloud 2.0 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 6.0 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_eus 5.6 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_eus 6.1 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_eus 6.2 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_server 5.0 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_server 6.0 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 5.3 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 5.6 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 5.0 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 6.0 Yes
References

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For php's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.