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HIGH · CVSS 7.8 CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

CVE-2017-1000253

Linux Kernel PIE Stack Buffer Corruption Vulnerability

Linux Kernel

Linux distributions that have not patched their long-term kernels with https://git.kernel.org/linus/a87938b2e246b81b4fb713edb371a9fa3c5c3c86 (committed on April 14, 2015). This kernel vulnerability was fixed in April 2015 by commit a87938b2e246b81b4fb713edb371a9fa3c5c3c86 (backported to Linux 3.10.77 in May 2015), but it was not recognized as a security threat. With CONFIG_ARCH_BINFMT_ELF_RANDOMIZE_PIE enabled, and a normal top-down address allocation strategy, load_elf_binary() will attempt to map a PIE binary into an address range immediately below mm->mmap_base. Unfortunately, load_elf_ binary() does not take account of the need to allocate sufficient space for the entire binary which means that, while the first PT_LOAD segment is mapped below mm->mmap_base, the subsequent PT_LOAD segment(s) end up being mapped above mm->mmap_base into the are that is supposed to be the "gap" between the stack and the binary.

CVSS
7.8
HIGH
EPSS
10.7%
30-day exploitation
Ransomware groups
0
recorded exploiting
Published
5 Oct 2017
CWE-119

Exploitation status

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities

Listed by CISA on 9 September 2024. US federal agencies were required to remediate it by 30 September 2024. CISA records this vulnerability as known to be used in ransomware campaigns.

EPSS — exploitation probability

FIRST puts the probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days at 10.7%, which is higher than 95.8% of all scored vulnerabilities. EPSS is a forecast of activity, not a measure of severity, and it is rescored daily.

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Frequently asked questions

Is CVE-2017-1000253 being exploited by ransomware groups?

No ransomware group in this database is currently recorded as exploiting CVE-2017-1000253.

What does CVE-2017-1000253 affect?

CVE-2017-1000253 affects Linux Kernel. Linux distributions that have not patched their long-term kernels with https://git.kernel.org/linus/a87938b2e246b81b4fb713edb371a9fa3c5c3c86 (committed on April 14, 2015). This kernel vulnerability was fixed in April 2015 by commit a87938b2e246b81b4fb713edb371a9fa3c5c3c86 (backported to Linux 3.10.77 in May 2015), but it was not recognized as a security threat. With CONFIG_ARCH_BINFMT_ELF_RANDOMIZE_PIE enabled, and a normal top-down address allocation strategy, load_elf_binary() will attempt to map a PIE binary into an address range immediately below mm->mmap_base. Unfortunately, load_elf_ binary() does not take account of the need to allocate sufficient space for the entire binary which means that, while the first PT_LOAD segment is mapped below mm->mmap_base, the subsequent PT_LOAD segment(s) end up being mapped above mm->mmap_base into the are that is supposed to be the "gap" between the stack and the binary.

How severe is CVE-2017-1000253?

CVE-2017-1000253 is rated HIGH with a CVSS base score of 7.8. EPSS puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 10.7%, higher than 95.8% of all scored vulnerabilities. It is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, with a federal remediation deadline of 30 September 2024.

How should organisations respond to CVE-2017-1000253?

Apply the vendor patch for Linux Kernel as the first priority, and treat any internet-facing instance as the most urgent. Because this vulnerability is associated with ransomware activity, also review whether the affected systems were reachable before patching, rather than assuming that patching alone closes the incident.