Vulnerability identifier: #VU12298

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv3.1: 5.7 [CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2017-6951

CWE-ID: CWE-476

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
Linux kernel
Operating systems & Components / Operating system

Vendor: Linux Foundation

Description
The vulnerability allows a local attacker to cause DoS condition on the target system.

The weakness exists in the keyring_search_aux function in security/keys/keyring.c due to NULL pointer dereference. A local attacker can cause the service to crash via a request_key system call for the "dead" type.

Mitigation
Update to version 3.15.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: 3.14 - 3.14.79

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External links
http://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:1842

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

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