#VU95725 Security restrictions bypass in Linux kernel - CVE-2012-1179

Vulnerability identifier: #VU95725

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 4.6 [CVSS:4.0/AV:A/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-2012-1179

CWE-ID: CWE-264

Exploitation vector: Local network

Exploit availability: No

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

Vendor: Linux Foundation

Description

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

The Linux kernel before 3.3.1, when KVM is used, allows guest OS users to cause a denial of service (host OS crash) by leveraging administrative access to the guest OS, related to the pmd_none_or_clear_bad function and page faults for huge pages.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's repository.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: All versions

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External links
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2012-March/075781.html
https://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2012-04/msg00021.html
https://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=139447903326211&w=2
https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-0743.html
https://secunia.com/advisories/48404
https://secunia.com/advisories/48898
https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v3.x/ChangeLog-3.3.1
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2012/03/15/7
https://www.securitytracker.com/id?1027084
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=803793
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/4a1d704194a441bf83c636004a479e01360ec850

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote authenticated user via the local network (LAN).

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

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