#VU94811 Improper input validation in Linux kernel - CVE-2005-0916

Vulnerability identifier: #VU94811

Vulnerability risk: Low

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

CVE-ID: CVE-2005-0916

CWE-ID: CWE-20

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: Yes

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

Vendor: Linux Foundation

Description

The vulnerability allows a local user to perform service disruption.

AIO in the Linux kernel 2.6.11 on the PPC64 or IA64 architectures with CONFIG_HUGETLB_PAGE enabled allows local users to cause a denial of service (system panic) via a process that executes the io_queue_init function but exits without running io_queue_release, which causes exit_aio and is_hugepage_only_range to fail.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's repository.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: All versions

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External links
https://groups-beta.google.com/group/linux.kernel/browse_thread/thread/13b43bd5783842f6/7ce3c5a514a497ab?q=io_queue_init&rnum=3#7ce3c5a514a497ab
https://linux.bkbits.net:8080/linux-2.6/cset%404248c8c0es30_4YVdwa6vteKi7h_nw
https://www.novell.com/linux/security/advisories/2005_50_kernel.html
https://www.securityfocus.com/bid/12987

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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.