CVE-2010-2798

Description

From CVE.org

The gfs2_dirent_find_space function in fs/gfs2/dir.c in the Linux kernel before 2.6.35 uses an incorrect size value in calculations associated with sentinel directory entries, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and panic) and possibly have unspecified other impact by renaming a file in a GFS2 filesystem, related to the gfs2_rename function in fs/gfs2/ops_inode.c.

Statement

This issue did not affect the version of Linux kernel as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3, 4 and Red Hat Enterprise MRG as they did not include support for the GFS2 file system.

A future kernel update in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 will address this issue.

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Info alert:Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

CVSS v2 Score Breakdown

Red HatNVDcve.org
Base Score7.27.2N/A
Attack VectorLocalLocalN/A
Access ComplexityLowLowN/A
AuthenticationNoneNoneN/A
Confidentiality ImpactCompleteCompleteN/A
Integrity ImpactCompleteCompleteN/A
Availability ImpactCompleteCompleteN/A

Vector

Red Hat: AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

NVD: AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

Availability

Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart

NULL pointer dereferences usually result in the failure of the process unless exception handling (on some platforms) is available and implemented. Even when exception handling is being used, it can still be very difficult to return the software to a safe state of operation.

Integrity,Confidentiality

Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; Read Memory; Modify Memory

In rare circumstances, when NULL is equivalent to the 0x0 memory address and privileged code can access it, then writing or reading memory is possible, which may lead to code execution.

Acknowledgements

Red Hat would like to thank Grant Diffey (CenITex) for reporting this issue.

Frequently Asked Questions

Want to get errata notifications? Sign up here.