Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2012-0844
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedInformation-disclosure vulnerability in Netsurf through 2.8 due to a world-readable cookie jar.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceNetsurf browser through version 2.8 stores its cookie jar with world-readable file permissions (e.g., 0644), allowing any local user on the system to read the cookie file. This exposes session cookies and other stored credentials, potentially enabling session hijacking or credential theft by other local users.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 8.0= 9.0<= 2.8CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Verify Netsurf browser is installedRun 'netsurf -V' or check for the netsurf executable in common paths like /usr/bin/netsurf, /usr/local/bin/netsurf, or look for the package using your system package manager (dpkg -l | grep netsurf or rpm -qa | grep netsurf)Affected if Netsurf is installed and its version is 2.8 or lower
-
Locate the cookie jar fileThe default cookie file is typically located at ~/.netsurf/cookies or ~/.netsurf/cookies.xwww. Check the NetSurf configuration directory in your home folderAffected if The cookie jar file exists on the system
-
Inspect cookie jar file permissionsRun 'ls -la ~/.netsurf/cookies*' to display the file permissions. Look for the permission string (e.g., -rw-r--r--)Affected if Permissions show world-readability (e.g., 0644, -rw-r--r--) meaning any local user can read the file
-
Compare against vulnerable permission modeInterpret the permission bits: 0644 or -rw-r--r-- means owner can read/write while group and others can only read. This is the vulnerable state. If permissions are 0600 or -rw------- then only the owner can readAffected if File permissions are 0644 (rw-r--r--) or similarly world-readable, indicating the system is vulnerable
A user is affected if Netsurf browser version 2.8 or earlier is installed and the cookie jar file has world-readable permissions (0644 or equivalent), allowing other local users to read stored cookies and session data.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataModify the cookie jar file permissions to be owner-only readable/writable (e.g., 0600) when creating or accessing the file, ensuring only the running user can read stored cookies.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-0844 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2012-0844 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data