Description
The asn1 implementation in (a) the Linux kernel 2.4 before 2.4.36.6 and 2.6 before 2.6.25.5, as used in the cifs and ip_nat_snmp_basic modules; and (b) the gxsnmp package; does not properly validate length values during decoding of ASN.1 BER data, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) or execute arbitrary code via (1) a length greater than the working buffer, which can lead to an unspecified overflow; (2) an oid length of zero, which can lead to an off-by-one error; or (3) an indefinite length for a primitive encoding.
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 4.0 | linux-2.6 | 2.6.18.dfsg.1-18etch6 | DSA-1592-1 |
Advisories 1
- DSA-1592-1 linux-2.6 - overflow conditions Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
References
- SUSE-SA:2008:047 vendor-advisory
- 30000 third-party-advisory
- 30658 third-party-advisory
- http://wiki.rpath.com/wiki/Advisories:rPSA-2008-0189
- SUSE-SA:2008:038 vendor-advisory
- 29589 vdb-entry
- http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=ddb2c43594f22843e9f3153da151deaba1a834c5
- SUSE-SA:2008:035 vendor-advisory
- SUSE-SA:2008:052 vendor-advisory
- FEDORA-2008-5308 vendor-advisory
- 32104 third-party-advisory
- 30982 third-party-advisory
- 30580 third-party-advisory
- 20080611 rPSA-2008-0189-1 kernel xen mailing-list
- linux-kernel-ber-decoder-bo(42921) vdb-entry
- 30644 third-party-advisory
- SUSE-SA:2008:048 vendor-advisory
- 32103 third-party-advisory
- MDVSA-2008:113 vendor-advisory
- 1020210 vdb-entry
- MDVSA-2008:174 vendor-advisory
- 32759 third-party-advisory
- ADV-2008-1770 vdb-entry
- 31107 third-party-advisory
- http://kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ChangeLog-2.6.25.5
- 32370 third-party-advisory
- 31836 third-party-advisory
- USN-625-1 vendor-advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=443962
- DSA-1592 vendor-advisory
- SUSE-SA:2008:049 vendor-advisory
- SUSE-SR:2008:025 vendor-advisory
- http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-2.6.25.y.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=33afb8403f361919aa5c8fe1d0a4f5ddbfbbea3c
- http://kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/ChangeLog-2.4.36.6