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TI-2019-03490 Aliases CVE-2019-5023GHSA-vjqv-f876-5p65

Memory leak in PaX

Priority LOW 28CWE-401Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
High
Impact type
Denial of service
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · None · High
Fix status
No fix listed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-401.

Summary

An exploitable vulnerability exists in the grsecurity PaX patch for the function read_kmem, in PaX from version pax-linux-4.9.8-test1 to 4.9.24-test7, grsecurity official from version grsecurity-3.1-4.9.8-201702060653 to grsecurity-3.1-4.9.24-201704252333, grsecurity unofficial from version v4.9.25-unofficialgrsec to v4.9.74-unofficialgrsec. PaX adds a temp buffer to the read_kmem function, which is never freed when an invalid address is supplied. This results in a memory leakage that can lead to a crash of the system. An attacker needs to induce a read to /dev/kmem using an invalid address to exploit this vulnerability.

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.00745 55th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
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

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
—PaXPaX pax-linux-4.9.24-test7.patch (latest version available to the public) grsecurity grsecurity-3.1-4.9.24-201704252333.patch (latest official version available to the public) v4.9.74-unofficial_grsec (latest unofficial version available to the public)—No fix listedCNA
  • PaX Vendor— Affected PaX pax-linux-4.9.24-test7.patch (latest version available to the public) grsecurity grsecurity-3.1-4.9.24-201704252333.patch (latest official version available to the public) v4.9.74-unofficial_grsec (latest unofficial version available to the public) Fixed in — No fix listed CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 3

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:opensrcsec:grsecurity:*:*:*:*:official:*:*:*3.1-4.9.8-201702060653 – 3.1-4.9.24-201704252333VulnerableOpensrcsec
cpe:2.3:a:opensrcsec:grsecurity:*:*:*:*:unofficial:*:*:*4.9.25 – 4.9.74VulnerableOpensrcsec
cpe:2.3:a:opensrcsec:pax:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*pax-linux-4.9.8-test1 – pax-linux-4.9.8-test7VulnerableOpensrcsec
  • cpe:2.3:a:opensrcsec:grsecurity:*:*:*:*:official:*:*:* Versions 3.1-4.9.8-201702060653 – 3.1-4.9.24-201704252333 Vulnerable ·Opensrcsec
  • cpe:2.3:a:opensrcsec:grsecurity:*:*:*:*:unofficial:*:*:* Versions 4.9.25 – 4.9.74 Vulnerable ·Opensrcsec
  • cpe:2.3:a:opensrcsec:pax:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions pax-linux-4.9.8-test1 – pax-linux-4.9.8-test7 Vulnerable ·Opensrcsec

Remediation

No fixed version listed by the sources yet.

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2019-5023
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-vjqv-f876-5p65

References

Exploit 1

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences