CVE-2004-0427

Severity: low (CVSS 2.1 v2.0)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.5% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2004-07-07 · updated 2026-06-16
Weakness: CWE-401

Description

The do_fork function in Linux 2.4.x before 2.4.26, and 2.6.x before 2.6.6, does not properly decrement the mm_count counter when an error occurs after the mm_struct for a child process has been activated, which triggers a memory leak that allows local users to cause a denial of service (memory exhaustion) via the clone (CLONE_VM) system call.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 2.4.0 before 2.4.26; from 2.6.0 before 2.6.6 — fixed in 2.4.26, 2.6.6

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 2.4.26, 2.6.6. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

http://distro.conectiva.com.br/atualizacoes/?id=a&anuncio=000846
http://fedoranews.org/updates/FEDORA-2004-111.shtml
http://linux.bkbits.net:8080/linux-2.4/cset%40407bf20eDeeejm8t36_tpvSE-8EFHA
http://linux.bkbits.net:8080/linux-2.6/cset%40407b1217x4jtqEkpFW2g_-RcF0726A
http://marc.info/?l=linux-kernel&m=108139073506983&w=2
http://secunia.com/advisories/11429
http://secunia.com/advisories/11464
http://secunia.com/advisories/11486
http://secunia.com/advisories/11541
http://secunia.com/advisories/11861

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