#VU14817 Use-after-free in Linux kernel - CVE-2018-17182
Vulnerability identifier: #VU14817
Vulnerability risk: Low
CVSSv4.0: 5.9 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]
CVE-ID:
CWE-ID:
CWE-416
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 escalate privileges on the system.
The vulnerability exists due to a use-after-free error in vmacache_flush_all() function in mm/vmacache.c file. A local user can trigger the use-after-free error via certain thread creation, map, unmap, invalidation, and dereference operations and execute arbitrary code on the system with elevated privileges.
Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.
Vulnerable software versions
Linux kernel: 4.18 - 4.18.8
External links
https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=7a9cdebdcc17e426fb5287e4a82db1dfe86339b2
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/7a9cdebdcc17e426fb5287e4a82db1dfe86339b2
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2018/09/18/4
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.
