Description
heartbeat.c in heartbeat before 2.0.6 sets insecure permissions in a shmget call for shared memory, which allows local users to cause an unspecified denial of service via unknown vectors, possibly during a short time window on startup.
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 14 | heartbeat | 1.2.4-13 | — |
| Debian 13 | heartbeat | 1.2.4-13 | — |
| Debian 12 | heartbeat | 1.2.4-13 | — |
| Debian 3.1 | heartbeat | 1.2.3-9sarge5 | DSA-1128 |
Public exploits
Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.
Third-party code, not reviewed by us. Public PoCs are sometimes fake or contain malware. Read the code first and run it only in an isolated lab, against systems you are authorised to test.
Exploit-DB 1
- Linux-HA Heartbeat 1.2.3/2.0.x - Insecure Default Permissions on Shared Memory EDB-28287 · local · Jul 27, 2006 · verified
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
Advisories 1
- DSA-1128 heartbeat - permission error Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
References
- 21231 third-party-advisory
- ADV-2006-2994 vdb-entry
- GLSA-200608-23 vendor-advisory
- 21629 third-party-advisory
- DSA-1128 vendor-advisory
- http://www.mail-archive.com/linux-ha-cvs%40lists.linux-ha.org/msg00753.html
- http://www.linux-ha.org/_cache/SecurityIssues__sec03.txt
- MDKSA-2006:142 vendor-advisory
- 1016602 vdb-entry
- 21162 third-party-advisory
- 19186 vdb-entry
- USN-326-1 vendor-advisory
- 21240 third-party-advisory
- 21521 third-party-advisory
- http://cvs.linux-ha.org/viewcvs/viewcvs.cgi/linux-ha/heartbeat/heartbeat.c?r1=1.513&r2=1.514