CVE-2017-18208

Public on

Last Modified: UTC

ModerateModerate ImpactWhat does this mean?

Insights vulnerability analysis

View exposed systems

Description

The madvise_willneed function in the Linux kernel allows local users to cause a denial of service (infinite loop) by triggering use of MADVISE_WILLNEED for a DAX mapping.

The madvise_willneed function in the Linux kernel allows local users to cause a denial of service (infinite loop) by triggering use of MADVISE_WILLNEED for a DAX mapping.

Additional information

  • Bugzilla 1551565: kernel: Inifinite loop vulnerability in mm/madvise.c:madvise_willneed() function allows local denial of service
  • CWE-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')
  • FAQ: Frequently asked questions about CVE-2017-18208

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

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 HatNVD

CVSS v3 Base Score

5.5

5.5

Attack Vector

Local

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Low

Privileges Required

Low

Low

User Interaction

None

None

Scope

Unchanged

Unchanged

Confidentiality Impact

None

None

Integrity Impact

None

None

Availability Impact

High

High

CVSS v3 Vector

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

NVD: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

CWE-835

Availability

Technical Impact: DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory); DoS: Amplification

An infinite loop will cause unexpected consumption of resources, such as CPU cycles or memory. The software's operation may slow down, or cause a long time to respond.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Red Hat's CVSS v3 score or Impact different from other vendors?

My product is listed as "Under investigation" or "Affected", when will Red Hat release a fix for this vulnerability?

What can I do if my product is listed as "Will not fix"?

What can I do if my product is listed as "Fix deferred"?

What is a mitigation?

I have a Red Hat product but it is not in the above list, is it affected?

Why is my security scanner reporting my product as vulnerable to this vulnerability even though my product version is fixed or not affected?

Want to get errata notifications? Sign up here.