NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel - CVE-2012-5517

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Main Vulnerability Database Vulnerabilities #VU43238

NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel - CVE-2012-5517

Published: December 21, 2012 / Updated: August 11, 2020


Vulnerability identifier: #VU43238
CSH Severity: Medium
CVSS v4: 5.9 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: CVE-2012-5517
CWE-ID: CWE-476
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability: No public exploit available

Vulnerability details

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

The vulnerability exists due to a NULL pointer dereference error in mm/memory_hotplug.c in the Linux kernel before 3.6 allows local users to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and system crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact in opportunistic circumstances by using memory that was hot-added by an administrator. Per: http://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/476. A remote attacker can perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.


Affected software

Linux kernel
Ubuntu
linux (Ubuntu package)
linux-lts-backport-oneiric (Ubuntu package)
linux-lts-quantal (Ubuntu package)

How to mitigate CVE-2012-5517

Cybersecurity Help is currently unaware of any official solution to address this vulnerability.

linux (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 3.0.0-29.46, 3.2.0-35.55, 3.5.0-21.32
linux-lts-backport-oneiric (Ubuntu package) - update to 3.0.0-29.46~lucid1
linux-lts-quantal (Ubuntu package) - update to 3.5.0-22.34~precise1

External References

Related Security Bulletins