What is CVE-2017-9211?

CVE-2017-9211 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux Kernel, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2017-05-23.

How severe is CVE-2017-9211?

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

Is CVE-2017-9211 known to be exploited?

2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

NULL pointer dereference in Linux Kernel

CVE-2017-9211

The crypto_skcipher_init_tfm function in crypto/skcipher.c in the Linux kernel through 4.11.2 relies on a setkey function that lacks a key-size check, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference) via a crafted application.

Published 2017-05-23 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.004 (30.6th percentile), scored 2026-10-01.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 31st percentile — 30.6% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.004 · newest: 0.004 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Linux Kernel

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-476 — NULL Pointer Dereference

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/9933e113c2e87a9f46a40fde8dafbf801dca1ab9 (Patch)
git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/ (Patch)
patchwork.kernel.org/patch/9718933/ (Patch, Mailing List)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2017-9211?: CVE-2017-9211 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux Kernel, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2017-05-23.
How severe is CVE-2017-9211?: Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.
Is CVE-2017-9211 known to be exploited?: 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.