What is CVE-2008-4302?

CVE-2008-4302 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux Kernel, classified under Improper Locking. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2008-09-29.

How severe is CVE-2008-4302?

Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.

Vulnerability in Linux Kernel

CVE-2008-4302

fs/splice.c in the splice subsystem in the Linux kernel before 2.6.22.2 does not properly handle a failure of the add_to_page_cache_lru function, and subsequently attempts to unlock a page that was not locked, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (kernel BUG and system crash), as demonstrated by the fio I/O tool.

Published 2008-09-29 · last modified 2026-06-16.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.006 (47.4th percentile), scored 2026-09-30.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 47th percentile — 47.4% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.006 · newest: 0.006 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Linux Kernel
Debian Linux — versions 4.0
Red Hat Enterprise Linux — versions 5.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-667 — Improper Locking

References

www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2008/09/16/10 (mailing-list, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
git.kernel.org/ (Broken Link)
secunia.com/advisories/32485 (Broken Link, third-party-advisory)
secunia.com/advisories/32237 (Broken Link, third-party-advisory)
www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2008-0957.html (vendor-advisory, Broken Link)
exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/45191 (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory, vdb-entry)
www.debian.org/security/2008/dsa-1653 (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval:org.mitre.oval:def:10547 (Broken Link, signature, vdb-entry)
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi (Patch, Third Party Advisory, Issue Tracking)
secunia.com/advisories/32759 (Broken Link, third-party-advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2008-4302?: CVE-2008-4302 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux Kernel, classified under Improper Locking. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2008-09-29.
How severe is CVE-2008-4302?: Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.