Description
Race condition in the ia32 compatibility code for the execve system call in Linux kernel 2.4 before 2.4.31 and 2.6 before 2.6.6 allows local users to cause a denial of service (kernel panic) and possibly execute arbitrary code via a concurrent thread that increments a pointer count after the nargs function has counted the pointers, but before the count is copied from user space to kernel space, which leads to a buffer overflow.
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.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 3.1 | kernel-image-2.4.27-arm +1 | 2.4.27-2sarge1 | DSA-921-1 |
| Debian 3.1 | kernel-image-2.4.27-m68k | 2.4.27-3sarge1 | DSA-921-1 |
| Debian 3.1 | kernel-image-2.4.27-sparc | 2.4.27-9sarge1 | DSA-921-1 |
| Debian 3.1 | kernel-patch-2.4.27-arm | 2.4.27-1sarge1 | DSA-921-1 |
| Debian 3.1 | kernel-patch-2.4.27-mips | 2.4.27-10.sarge1.040815-1 | DSA-921-1 |
| Debian 3.1 | kernel-source-2.4.27 +4 | 2.4.27-10sarge1 | DSA-921-1 |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 3 | kernel +8 | 2.4.21-37.EL | RHSA-2005:663 |
Advisories 2
- RHSA-2005:663 Red Hat Security Advisory: Updated kernel packages available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 6 Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 26, 2026
- DSA-921-1 kernel-source-2.4.27 - several Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
References
- 20050711 [ Suresec Advisories ] - Linux kernel ia32 compatibility (ia64/x86-64) mailing-list
- 15980 third-party-advisory
- 1014442 vdb-entry
- 18059 third-party-advisory
- 19185 third-party-advisory
- 19607 third-party-advisory
- oval:org.mitre.oval:def:11117 vdb-entry signature
- DSA-921 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2005:551 vendor-advisory
- 17002 third-party-advisory
- 14205 vdb-entry
- http://www.suresec.org/advisories/adv4.pdf
- SUSE-SA:2005:044 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2005:663 vendor-advisory
- ADV-2005-1878 vdb-entry