CVE-2017-12168

Description

An assertion failure issue was found in the Linux kernel's KVM hypervisor module built to support visualization on ARM64 architecture platforms. The failure could occur while accessing Performance Monitors Cycle Count Register (PMCCNTR) from a guest. A privileged guest user could use this flaw to crash the host kernel resulting in denial of service.

Statement

This issue does not affect the versions of the kernel package as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 6, 7 and Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2.

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 v3 Score Breakdown

Red HatNVDcve.org
Base Score6.26N/A
Attack VectorAdjacent NetworkLocalN/A
Attack ComplexityLowLowN/A
Privileges RequiredHighHighN/A
User InteractionNoneNoneN/A
ScopeChangedChangedN/A
ConfidentialityNoneNoneN/A
Integrity ImpactNoneNoneN/A
Availability ImpactHighHighN/A

Vector

Red Hat: CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

Availability

Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart

An attacker that can trigger an assert statement can still lead to a denial of service if the relevant code can be triggered by an attacker, and if the scope of the assert() extends beyond the attacker's own session.

Frequently Asked Questions

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