#VU12259 Resource exhaustion in Linux kernel - CVE-2016-3672

Vulnerability identifier: #VU12259

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 1.9 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2016-3672

CWE-ID: CWE-400

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: Yes

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

Vendor: Linux Foundation

Description
The vulnerability allows a local attacker to bypass security restrictions on the target system.

The weakness exists in the arch_pick_mmap_layout function in arch/x86/mm/mmap.c due to improper randomizing of the legacy base address. A local attacker can disable stack-consumption resource limits, defeat the intended restrictions on the ADDR_NO_RANDOMIZE flag and bypass the ASLR protection mechanism for a setuid or setgid program.

Mitigation
Update to version 4.5.2.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: 4.5.0 - 4.5.2

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External links
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/8b8addf891de8a00e4d39fc32f93f7c5eb8feceb

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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. However, proof of concept for this vulnerability is available.