libdbus 1.5.x and earlier, when used in setuid or other privileged programs in X.org and possibly other products, allows local users to gain privileges and execute arbitrary code via the DBUS_SYSTEM_BUS_ADDRESS environment variable. NOTE: libdbus maintainers state that this is a vulnerability in the applications that do not cleanse environment variables, not in libdbus itself: "we do not support use of libdbus in setuid binaries that do not sanitize their environment before their first call into libdbus."
CVE-2012-3524 is a security vulnerability that . Impacting 1 product from freedesktop organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.
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.
2012-09-18T17:55:00.990
2025-04-11T00:51:21.963
Deferred
CVSSv2: 6.9 (MEDIUM)
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
3.4
10.0
| Type | Vendor | Product | Version/Range | Vulnerable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application | freedesktop | libdbus | ≤ 1.5.12 | Yes |
| Application | freedesktop | libdbus | 1.5.0 | Yes |
| Application | freedesktop | libdbus | 1.5.2 | Yes |
| Application | freedesktop | libdbus | 1.5.4 | Yes |
| Application | freedesktop | libdbus | 1.5.6 | Yes |
| Application | freedesktop | libdbus | 1.5.8 | Yes |
| Application | freedesktop | libdbus | 1.5.10 | Yes |
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 freedesktop'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.