Description
The tty_ldisc_hangup function in drivers/char/tty_ldisc.c in the Linux kernel 2.6.31-rc before 2.6.31-rc8 allows local users to cause a denial of service (system crash, sometimes preceded by a NULL pointer dereference) or possibly gain privileges via certain pseudo-terminal I/O activity, as demonstrated by KernelTtyTest.c.
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.
Exploit-DB 1
- Linux Kernel 2.6.x - 'drivers/char/tty_ldisc.c' Null Pointer Dereference Denial of Service EDB-33193 · dos · Aug 19, 2009 · verified
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
References
- http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=5c58ceff103d8a654f24769bb1baaf84a841b0cc
- [linux-kernel] 20090819 v2.6.31-rc6: BUG: unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at 0000000000000008 mailing-list
- [oss-security] 20090903 Re: CVE request: kernel: tty: make sure to flush any pending work when halting the ldisc mailing-list
- http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/testing/ChangeLog-2.6.31-rc8
- [oss-security] 20090904 Re: CVE request: kernel: tty: make sure to flush any pending work when halting the ldisc mailing-list
- [linux-kernel] 20090820 Re: v2.6.31-rc6: BUG: unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at 0000000000000008 mailing-list
- 36191 vdb-entry
- [oss-security] 20090831 CVE request: kernel: tty: make sure to flush any pending work when halting the ldisc mailing-list
- [linux-kernel] 20090819 Re: v2.6.31-rc6: BUG: unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at 0000000000000008 mailing-list