MediaWiki before 1.18.5, and 1.19.x before 1.19.2 saves passwords in the local database, (1) which could make it easier for context-dependent attackers to obtain cleartext passwords via a brute-force attack or, (2) when an authentication plugin returns a false in the strict function, could allow remote attackers to use old passwords for non-existing accounts in an external authentication system via unspecified vectors.
CVE-2012-4381
This high-severity CVE scores 8.1 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 3.1%, top 13% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).
- High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.
- CVSS v3
- 8.1
- EG Score
- 8.1(medium)
- EPSS
- 89.5%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
February 8, 2020
Last Modified
November 21, 2024
References (14)
- secalert@redhathttp://osvdb.org/show/osvdb/85106
- secalert@redhathttp://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/08/31/10
- secalert@redhathttp://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/08/31/6
- secalert@redhathttps://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=686330
- secalert@redhathttps://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=853442
- secalert@redhathttps://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/mediawiki-announce/2012-August/000119.html
- secalert@redhathttps://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T41184
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://osvdb.org/show/osvdb/85106
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/08/31/10
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/08/31/6
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=686330
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=853442
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/mediawiki-announce/2012-August/000119.html
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T41184
Weakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 8× in last 7d / 41× in last 30d)
Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.
- 2026-07-11 08:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-09 19:05 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-08 15:10 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-07-04 06:27 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-02 14:01 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-02 10:55 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-07-01 15:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-28 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-28 04:53 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-27 03:05 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-25 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-22 14:22 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-22 14:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 14:53 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-18 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-17 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-17 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-16 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-16 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-15 17:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-14 09:13 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-12 23:08 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-11 13:56 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 22:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 13:18 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-08 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-08 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:09 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-02 20:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-02 20:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-05-31 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-05-29 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 08:06 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-27 08:06 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-05-27 01:43 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-05-26 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:16 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:16 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:16 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-24 16:43 UTCEPSS rescore
Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2012-4381?
When was CVE-2012-4381 disclosed?
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What is the CVSS score of CVE-2012-4381?
How do I remediate CVE-2012-4381?
Dependency Blast Radius
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