Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2012-6111
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 · uneditedgnome-keyring does not discard stored secrets when using gnome_keyring_lock_all_sync function
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 confidencegnome-keyring's gnome_keyring_lock_all_sync function fails to properly discard stored secrets from memory when called, allowing sensitive credentials to remain accessible even after the keyring should be locked, enabling potential unauthorized access to stored secrets.
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= 3.2= 3.4CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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.
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Identify installed gnome-keyring versionRun 'gnome-keyring-daemon --version' or check your package manager (dpkg -l gnome-keyring, rpm -q gnome-keyring)Affected if Version is 3.2 or 3.4 exactly (or falls within the 3.2-3.4 range)
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Confirm gnome-keyring daemon is runningRun 'ps aux | grep gnome-keyring' or check if the daemon is active using your system service managerAffected if The gnome-keyring-daemon process is currently running on the system
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Verify keyring is in useCheck for existing keyrings by examining ~/.local/share/keyrings/ directory or running 'echo "test" | gnome-keyring-daemon --unlock' to test accessAffected if User keyrings exist and the daemon has been used to store secrets
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Test lock function behaviorCall gnome_keyring_lock_all_sync (via a test application or script that invokes the function) then attempt to access previously stored credentialsAffected if Credentials remain accessible after the lock function is called, indicating secrets were not properly cleared from memory
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Check Debian system versionRun 'cat /etc/debian_version' to identify the Debian releaseAffected if System is running Debian 8.0 or Debian 9.0 (both ship with affected gnome-keyring versions)
A system is affected if it runs gnome-keyring version 3.2 or 3.4 (or on Debian 8.0/9.0) and uses the lock function, where credentials remain accessible after locking rather than being cleared from memory.
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 dataUpgrade to a patched version of gnome-keyring where the lock function properly clears secrets from memory, or implement additional controls to ensure sensitive data is cleared from memory after keyring operations.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-6111 — 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-2012-6111 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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