#VU8116 Null pointer dereference in Linux kernel - CVE-2015-8970
Published: September 4, 2017 / Updated: September 6, 2017
Vulnerability identifier: #VU8116
Vulnerability risk: Low
CVSSv4.0: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear
CVE-ID: CVE-2015-8970
CWE-ID: CWE-476
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerable software:
Linux kernel
Linux kernel
Software vendor:
Linux Foundation
Linux Foundation
Description
The vulnerability allows a local attacker to cause DoS condition on the target system.
The weakness exists due to crypto/algif_skcipher.c in the Linux kernel does not verify that a setkey operation has been performed on an AF_ALG socket before an accept system call is processed. A local attacker can provide a specially crafted application that does not supply a key, related to the lrw_crypt function in crypto/lrw.c., trigger NULL pointer dereference and cause the system to crash.
Successful exploitation of the vulnerability results in denial of service.
The weakness exists due to crypto/algif_skcipher.c in the Linux kernel does not verify that a setkey operation has been performed on an AF_ALG socket before an accept system call is processed. A local attacker can provide a specially crafted application that does not supply a key, related to the lrw_crypt function in crypto/lrw.c., trigger NULL pointer dereference and cause the system to crash.
Successful exploitation of the vulnerability results in denial of service.
Remediation
Update to version 4.5.