CVE-2012-1566
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 · uneditedLinuxMint as of 2012-03-19 has temporary file creation vulnerabilities in mintNanny.
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 · moderate confidencemintNanny (a Linux Mint web browser) contains temporary file creation vulnerabilities that likely allow local or remote attackers to predict or manipulate temporary file paths, potentially leading to file overwrite, denial of service, or privilege escalation.
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>= 2012-03-19CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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.
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Verify mintNanny is installedCheck if the mintNanny package exists on the system using your package manager (e.g., dpkg -l mintnanny, rpm -qa mintnanny, or apt list --installed 2>/dev/null | grep -i mintnanny)Affected if mintNanny is present on the system
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Determine Linux Mint versionCheck the installed Linux Mint version or release date using: cat /etc/lsb-release or cat /etc/linuxmint/info, or check /usr/share/python3/softwaremanager/pool.py for embedded version info if mintNanny is bundledAffected if The release date is 2012-03-19 or later (or the version string indicates a date on or after that)
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Locate mintNanny executable or scriptFind the mintNanny binary or script using: which mintnanny, find /usr -name '*mintnanny*' 2>/dev/null, or ls -la /usr/lib/linuxmint/mintNanny/ 2>/dev/nullAffected if The mintNanny executable or script exists on the system
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Inspect temporary file usageReview the mintNanny source code or script for insecure temporary file creation patterns (e.g., hardcoded temp paths, predictable filenames, lack of O_EXCL or mkstemp usage). If binary, check for temp file configuration in /var/cache/mintnanny, /tmp/mintnanny, or similar directoriesAffected if The application uses predictable or insecure temporary file creation methods (hardcoded paths in /tmp, use of mktemp without proper flags, or writable temp directories accessible to other users)
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Check for existing temp file artifactsLook for temporary files or directories created by mintNanny: ls -la /tmp/*mintnanny* 2>/dev/null, ls -la /var/tmp/*mintnanny* 2>/dev/null, and check for any world-writable files owned by the mintNanny userAffected if Temporary files or directories exist with predictable names or insecure permissions (e.g., world-writable or with predictable filenames containing user info or timestamps)
The environment is affected if mintNanny is installed on Linux Mint version 2012-03-19 or later AND the application uses insecure temporary file creation methods (predictable filenames, hardcoded /tmp paths, or lacks proper O_EXCL/mkstemp usage)
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 dataReplace insecure temporary file creation methods (e.g., mktemp, predictable filenames) with secure alternatives such as mkstemp() or O_EXCL flags, or eliminate temporary file usage where possible.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-1566 — 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-2012-1566 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
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- 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
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