Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2012-5821

Lynx does not verify that the server's certificate is signed by a trusted certification authority, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof SSL servers via a crafted certificate, related to improper use of a certain GnuTLS function.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.9, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network but requires specific conditions to be met without requiring user interaction and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts integrity (unauthorized modifications), for affected systems. Impacting 2 products from lynx, from canonical 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

2012-11-04T22:55:04.827

Last Modified

2026-04-29T01:13:23.040

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 5.9 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

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

Access Vector: NETWORK
Access Complexity: MEDIUM
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: PARTIAL
Integrity Impact: PARTIAL
Availability Impact: NONE

Exploitability Score

8.6

Impact Score

4.9

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-295

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	lynx	lynx	-	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	10.04	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	11.10	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	12.04	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	12.10	Yes

References

http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~shmat/shmat_ccs12.pdf Exploit ([email protected])
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2013:101 Broken Link ([email protected])
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1642-1 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/79930 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Support/Advisories/MGASA-2012-0351 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~shmat/shmat_ccs12.pdf Exploit (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2013:101 Broken Link (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1642-1 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/79930 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Support/Advisories/MGASA-2012-0351 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

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 lynx'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.