Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls in Linux kernel

Published: 2014-01-19 | Updated: 2020-08-10

Risk	Medium
Patch available	YES
Number of vulnerabilities	1
CVE-ID	CVE-2014-1438
CWE-ID	CWE-264
Exploitation vector	Network
Public exploit	N/A
Vulnerable software	Linux kernel Operating systems & Components / Operating system
Vendor	Linux Foundation

Security Bulletin

This security bulletin contains one medium risk vulnerability.

1) Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls

EUVDB-ID: #VU42139

Risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 4.6 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2014-1438

CWE-ID: CWE-264 - Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote non-authenticated attacker to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The restore_fpu_checking function in arch/x86/include/asm/fpu-internal.h in the Linux kernel before 3.12.8 on the AMD K7 and K8 platforms does not clear pending exceptions before proceeding to an EMMS instruction, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (task kill) or possibly gain privileges via a crafted application.

Mitigation

Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: 3.12 - 3.12.6

CPE2.3

External links

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.