CVE-2011-0999

Severity: medium (CVSS 4.9 v2.0)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2011-02-23 · updated 2026-06-16
Weakness: CWE-400

Description

mm/huge_memory.c in the Linux kernel before 2.6.38-rc5 does not prevent creation of a transparent huge page (THP) during the existence of a temporary stack for an exec system call, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted application.

Affected products

Linux kernel: before 2.6.38; 2.6.38, 2.6.38-rc1, 2.6.38-rc2, 2.6.38-rc3, 2.6.38-rc4 — fixed in 2.6.38

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 2.6.38. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=a7d6e4ecdb7648478ddec76d30d87d03d6e22b31
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/02/17/3
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/02/17/6
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/testing/ChangeLog-2.6.38-rc5
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/46442
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=678209
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/65535
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=a7d6e4ecdb7648478ddec76d30d87d03d6e22b31
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/02/17/3
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/02/17/6
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/testing/ChangeLog-2.6.38-rc5
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/46442

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