CsoundApplication · Csounds

CVE-2012-2108

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-02-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 5.17 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Stack-based buffer overflow in the main function in util/lpci_main.c in Csound before 5.17.2, when converting a file, allows user-assisted remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted file.

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 confidence

Stack-based buffer overflow in Csound's util/lpci_main.c in the main function allows arbitrary code execution when processing a crafted file during file conversion. The vulnerability affects versions before 5.17.2 and requires user interaction (opening a malicious file).

MitigationUpgrade Csound to version 5.17.2 or later. Avoid opening untrusted or unknown files with Csound utilities until the upgrade is applied.

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
CsoundApplication
Affected:<= 5.17= 5.10= 5.10.1= 5.11= 5.11.1= 5.12= 5.12.1= 5.12.3= 5.12.4= 5.13.0= 5.13.1= 5.14.0

CVSS 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
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

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

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Csound is installed
    Run 'which csound' or check for Csound binary in common paths like /usr/bin/csound, /usr/local/bin/csound
    Affected if Csound is not installed on the system
  2. Determine installed Csound version
    Run 'csound --version' or 'csound -V' to display the version number
    Affected if The version displayed is 5.17 or lower, or any of these specific versions: 5.10, 5.10.1, 5.11, 5.11.1, 5.12, 5.12.1, 5.12.3, 5.12.4, 5.13.0, 5.13.1, 5.14.0
  3. Locate the lpci utility
    Run 'which lpci' or search for lpci binary in Csound installation directories (typically in bin/ subdirectory)
    Affected if The lpci utility exists and is accessible on the system
  4. Confirm attack surface exposure
    Check if users or automated processes could use Csound or lpci to convert untrusted or unknown files (inspect file association configurations, scripts, or workflows that process external audio files)
    Affected if Csound or lpci is used to process files from untrusted or unknown sources

The system is affected if Csound version is 5.17.1 or lower (including all listed affected versions) AND the lpci utility is present AND users could be tricked into opening a malicious crafted file with Csound utilities.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 5.17
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Csound to version 5.17.2 or later. Avoid opening untrusted or unknown files with Csound utilities until the upgrade is applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

Csound 5.17.2 or later

  1. 1. Identify your current Csound version using 'csound --version' or equivalent command
  2. 2. Obtain Csound version 5.17.2 or later from the official distribution (csound.github.io or csound.git.sourceforge.net)
  3. 3. Backup any existing Csound installations and custom configurations
  4. 4. Install the new version following the appropriate installation method for your platform (source compilation, binary package, or system package manager)
  5. 5. Verify the installation was successful by running 'csound --version' and confirming it reports version 5.17.2 or later

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Csound Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
Get the upgrade done

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 locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-2108 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2012-2108 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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