Description
kmod in the Linux kernel does not set its uid, suid, gid, or sgid to 0, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (crash) by sending certain signals to kmod.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 3 | kernel +8 | 2.4.21-15.EL | RHSA-2004:188 |
Advisories 1
- RHSA-2004:188 Red Hat Security Advisory: Updated kernel packages available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 2 Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 26, 2026
References
- SuSE-SA:2003:049 vendor-advisory
- linux-kmod-signals-dos(15577) vdb-entry
- CLSA-2004:820 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2004:069 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2004:188 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2004:106 vendor-advisory
- oval:org.mitre.oval:def:9423 vdb-entry signature
- http://linux.bkbits.net:8080/linux-2.4/diffs/kernel/kmod.c%401.6?nav=index.html%7Csrc/%7Csrc/kernel%7Chist/kernel/kmod.c
- RHSA-2004:065 vendor-advisory