TunedApplication · Redhat
CVE-2012-6136
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 · uneditedtuned 2.10.0 creates its PID file with insecure permissions which allows local users to kill arbitrary processes.
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 confidenceThe tuned daemon version 2.10.0 creates its PID file with insecure, overly permissive file permissions (likely world-writable). This allows any local user on the system to read or modify the PID file, enabling them to kill arbitrary processes by targeting the PID stored in the file.
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
TunedApplication
= 2.10.0
FedoraOperating system
= 17
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
= 6.0
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
= 6.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
= 6.0
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
= 6.0
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 10.0CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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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Check tuned package versionRun 'rpm -q tuned' or 'dpkg -l tuned' to identify if tuned is installed, then check its version with 'rpm -qi tuned' or 'dpkg -s tuned'Affected if tuned version 2.10.0 is installed (or on affected Fedora 17, RHEL 6.0, Debian 10.0 systems with this version)
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Locate the tuned PID fileFind the tuned PID file - typical locations include /var/run/tuned/tuned.pid or /var/run/tuned.pid. Use 'ls -la /var/run/ | grep tuned' or 'find /var/run -name "*tuned*.pid" 2>/dev/null' to locate itAffected if A PID file for tuned exists on the system
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Inspect PID file permissionsRun 'ls -la' on the found PID file and examine the permission bits (the first 10 characters of the output). Look specifically for world-writable permissions indicated by 'w' in the final triplet (e.g., -rw-rw-rw-)Affected if The PID file permissions are world-writable (mode 666 or similar, where any user can read and write to the file)
You are affected if tuned version 2.10.0 is running and its PID file exists with world-writable permissions, allowing any local user to read/modify the PID and potentially kill arbitrary processes.
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 tuned, or manually correct the PID file permissions to restrict access (e.g., 640 or 644) and ensure the parent directory has appropriate restrictions.
Fix this in Tuned
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 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 $1,696.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-6136 — 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-2012-6136 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
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