CVE-2017-1000255
CVE-2017-1000255 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-787.
Key facts
- Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 5.5)
- CVSS v2: 6.6
- EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (30th percentile)
- Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
- Weakness: CWE-787
- Affected product: Linux Linux Kernel
- Published:
- Last modified:
Description
On Linux running on PowerPC hardware (Power8 or later) a user process can craft a signal frame and then do a sigreturn so that the kernel will take an exception (interrupt), and use the r1 value *from the signal frame* as the kernel stack pointer. As part of the exception entry the content of the signal frame is written to the kernel stack, allowing an attacker to overwrite arbitrary locations with arbitrary values. The exception handling does produce an oops, and a panic if panic_on_oops=1, but only after kernel memory has been over written. This flaw was introduced in commit: "5d176f751ee3 (powerpc: tm: Enable transactional memory (TM) lazily for userspace)" which was merged upstream into v4.9-rc1. Please note that kernels built with CONFIG_PPC_TRANSACTIONAL_MEM=n are not vulnerable.
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2017-1000255?
- On Linux running on PowerPC hardware (Power8 or later) a user process can craft a signal frame and then do a sigreturn so that the kernel will take an exception (interrupt), and use the r1 value *from the signal frame* as the kernel stack pointer. As part of the exception entry the content of the signal frame is written to the kernel stack, allowing an attacker to overwrite arbitrary locations with arbitrary values. The exception handling does produce an oops, and a panic if panic_on_oops=1, but only after kernel memory has been over written. This flaw was introduced in commit: "5d176f751ee3 (powerpc: tm: Enable transactional memory (TM) lazily for userspace)" which was merged upstream into v4.9-rc1. Please note that kernels built with CONFIG_PPC_TRANSACTIONAL_MEM=n are not vulnerable.
- How severe is CVE-2017-1000255?
- CVE-2017-1000255 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity high, and availability none.
- Is CVE-2017-1000255 being actively exploited?
- It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (30th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
- What products are affected by CVE-2017-1000255?
- CVE-2017-1000255 affects Linux Linux Kernel. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
- How do I fix CVE-2017-1000255?
- Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
- When was CVE-2017-1000255 published?
- CVE-2017-1000255 was published on 2017-10-30 and last updated on 2026-06-17.
References
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101264
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:0654
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-1000255
Affected products (1)
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
More vulnerabilities in Linux Linux Kernel
- CVE-2023-2163 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Incorrect verifier pruning in BPF in Linux Kernel >=5.4 leads to unsafe code paths being incorrectly marked as safe,…
- CVE-2015-8104 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): The KVM subsystem in the Linux kernel through 4.2.6, and Xen 4.3.x through 4.6.x, allows guest OS users to cause a…
- CVE-2015-1421 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Use-after-free vulnerability in the sctp_assoc_update function in net/sctp/associola.c in the Linux kernel before…
- CVE-2014-2523 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_proto_dccp.c in the Linux kernel through 3.13.6 uses a DCCP header pointer incorrectly,…
- CVE-2010-2495 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): The pppol2tp_xmit function in drivers/net/pppol2tp.c in the L2TP implementation in the Linux kernel before 2.6.34 does…
- CVE-2010-2521 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Multiple buffer overflows in fs/nfsd/nfs4xdr.c in the XDR implementation in the NFS server in the Linux kernel before…
All CVEs affecting Linux Linux Kernel →
Other CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write) vulnerabilities
- CVE-2026-42369 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): GV-VMS V20 is a Video Monitoring Software used to gather the feeds of many surveillance cameras and manage other…
- CVE-2026-4746 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Out-of-bounds Write vulnerability in timeplus-io proton (base/poco/Foundation/src modules). This vulnerability is…
- CVE-2025-43300 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved bounds checking. This issue is fixed in iOS 15.8.5 and iPadOS…
- CVE-2025-24201 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved checks to prevent unauthorized actions. This issue is fixed in…
- CVE-2024-42479 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): llama.cpp provides LLM inference in C/C++. The unsafe `data` pointer member in the `rpc_tensor` structure can cause…
- CVE-2024-39791 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Stack-based buffer overflow vulnerabilities affecting Vonets industrial wifi bridge relays and wifi bridge…