--- ipmitool-1.8.11/lib/ipmi_sel.c.orig	2009-02-25 21:38:52.000000000 +0100
+++ ipmitool-1.8.11/lib/ipmi_sel.c	2012-11-08 12:25:42.000000000 +0100
@@ -578,13 +578,14 @@ ipmi_get_event_desc(struct ipmi_intf * i
 			 ((rec->sel_type.standard_type.event_data[0] & DATA_BYTE2_SPECIFIED_MASK) &&
 			  (evt->data == rec->sel_type.standard_type.event_data[1]))))
 		{
-			*desc = (char *)malloc(strlen(evt->desc) + 48);
+			unsigned evt_desc_len = (evt->desc) ? strlen(evt->desc) : 0;
+			*desc = (char *)malloc(evt_desc_len + 48);
 			if (*desc == NULL) {
 				lprintf(LOG_ERR, "ipmitool: malloc failure");
 				return;
 			}
-			memset(*desc, 0, strlen(evt->desc)+48);
-			sprintf(*desc, "%s", evt->desc);
+			memset(*desc, 0, evt_desc_len+48);
+			snprintf(*desc, evt_desc_len+48, "%s", evt_desc_len ? evt->desc : "");
 			return;
 		}	
 		evt++;