---
id: CVE-2019-12972
title: >-
  An issue was discovered in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka
  libbfd), as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.32
summary: >-
  An issue was discovered in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka
  libbfd), as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.32. There is a heap-based buffer
  over-read in _bfd_doprnt in bfd.c because elf_object_p in elfcode.h mishandles
  an e_shstr…
severity: medium
cvss: 5.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-125
vendor: gnu
product: binutils
affected:
  - binutils = 2.32
  - leap = 15.1
  - leap = 15.2
  - ubuntu_linux = 18.04
published: '2019-06-26'
updated: '2026-10-08'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-08T22:16:49.560'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-12972'
references:
  - url: 'http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-10/msg00078.html'
    label: cve@mitre.org
  - url: 'http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-11/msg00004.html'
    label: cve@mitre.org
  - url: 'http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/108903'
    label: cve@mitre.org
  - url: 'https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202007-39'
    label: cve@mitre.org
  - url: 'https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=24689'
    label: cve@mitre.org
  - url: >-
      https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git%3Bh=890f750a3b053532a4b839a2dd6243076de12031
    label: cve@mitre.org
  - url: 'https://usn.ubuntu.com/4336-1/'
    label: cve@mitre.org
  - url: 'http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-10/msg00078.html'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-11/msg00004.html'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/108903'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202007-39'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=24689'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: >-
      https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git%3Bh=890f750a3b053532a4b839a2dd6243076de12031
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://usn.ubuntu.com/4336-1/'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
tags:
  - nvd
epss: 0.01802
epssPercentile: 0.77854
ingestedAt: '2026-10-08T23:16:47.296Z'
---

## Overview

An issue was discovered in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd), as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.32. There is a heap-based buffer over-read in _bfd_doprnt in bfd.c because elf_object_p in elfcode.h mishandles an e_shstrndx section of type SHT_GROUP by omitting a trailing '\0' character.

## Affected

- `binutils = 2.32`
- `leap = 15.1`
- `leap = 15.2`
- `ubuntu_linux = 18.04`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.