#VU92772 Resource exhaustion in Linux kernel - CVE-2020-8992

Vulnerability identifier: #VU92772

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 4.3 [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-2020-8992

CWE-ID: CWE-400

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: No

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

Vendor: Linux Foundation

Description

The vulnerability allows a local user to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

ext4_protect_reserved_inode in fs/ext4/block_validity.c in the Linux kernel through 5.5.3 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (soft lockup) via a crafted journal size.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's repository.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: All versions

---

External links
https://patchwork.ozlabs.org/patch/1236118/
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20200313-0003/
https://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-03/msg00021.html
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4318-1/
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4324-1/
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4344-1/
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4342-1/
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4419-1/

---

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.