Vulnerability identifier: #VU44642

Vulnerability risk: Medium

CVSSv3.1: 5.4 [CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2011-1076

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

The vulnerability exists due to a NULL pointer dereference error in the Linux kernel before 2.6.38 allows remote DNS servers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and OOPS) by not providing a valid response to a DNS query, as demonstrated by an erroneous grand.centrall.org query, which triggers improper handling of error data within a DNS resolver key. A remote attacker can perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

Mitigation
Update to version 2.6.38.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: 2.6.0 - 2.6.37.6

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External links
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=1362fa078dae16776cd439791c6605b224ea6171
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/04/13
http://securitytracker.com/id?1025162
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ChangeLog-2.6.38

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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.