Vulnerability in Linux Kernel

CVE-2018-12232

In net/socket.c in the Linux kernel through 4.17.1, there is a race condition between fchownat and close in cases where they target the same socket file descriptor, related to the sock_close and sockfs_setattr functions. fchownat does not increment the file descriptor reference count, which allows close to set the socket to NULL during fchownat's execution, leading to a NULL pointer dereference and system crash.

Vulnerability class: Race Condition

EPSS: 0.066 (93.1th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.9 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2018-12232?
CVE-2018-12232 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux Kernel, classified under Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization (Race Condition). CVSS score: 5.9/10. Published 2018-06-12.
How severe is CVE-2018-12232?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.9 out of 10.
Is CVE-2018-12232 known to be exploited?
2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.