The freelist-randomization feature in mm/slab.c in the Linux kernel 4.8.x and 4.9.x…
Priority LOW 34Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
The freelist-randomization feature in mm/slab.c in the Linux kernel 4.8.x and 4.9.x before 4.9.5 allows local users to cause a denial of service (duplicate freelist entries and system crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact in opportunistic circumstances by leveraging the selection of a large value for a random number.
Why it matters now
EPSS 0.00423 36th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix No fix listed No fixed version in the sources yet
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | all versions | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- — Vendor— Affected all versions Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
Not affected: 4 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2017-5546
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-2cfp-q4hx-m356
References
Patch 4
- https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/c4e490cf148e85ead0d1b1c2caaba833f1d5b29f
- [oss-security] 20170120 Re: CVE REQUEST: linux kernel: process with pgid zero able to crash kernel
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1415733
- http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=c4e490cf148e85ead0d1b1c2caaba833f1d5b29f
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2017-5546 · CVE Program
- CVE-2017-5546 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-2cfp-q4hx-m356 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2017-5546 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences