CVE-2010-4655

Summary

CVE	CVE-2010-4655
State	PUBLISHED
Assigner	redhat
Source Priority	CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published	2011-07-18 19:55:00 UTC
Updated	2026-04-29 01:13:23 UTC
Description	net/core/ethtool.c in the Linux kernel before 2.6.36 does not initialize certain data structures, which allows local users to obtain potentially sensitive information from kernel heap memory by leveraging the CAP_NET_ADMIN capability for an ethtool ioctl call.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 5.5 MEDIUM from [email protected]

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

Problem Types: CWE-665 | n/a

Version	Source	Type	Score	Severity	Vector
3.1	[email protected]	Primary	5.5	MEDIUM	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`
2.0	[email protected]	Primary	2.1		`AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N`

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

None

Availability

None

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

CVSS v2.0 Breakdown

Access Vector

Local

Access Complexity

Low

Authentication

None

Confidentiality

Partial

Integrity

None

Availability

None

AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

Type	Vendor	Product	Version	Update	Edition	Language
Operating System	Canonical	Ubuntu Linux	8.04	All	All	All
Operating System	Linux	Linux Kernel	All	All	All	All
Operating System	Vmware	Esx	4.0	All	All	All
Operating System	Vmware	Esx	4.1	All	All	All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

Source	Vendor	Product	Version	Platforms
CNA	Na	N/a	affected n/a	Not specified

References

Reference	Source	Link	Tags
USN-1146-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities \| Ubuntu	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	www.ubuntu.com	Third Party Advisory
oss-security - CVE request: linux kernel heap issues	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	openwall.com	Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory
SecurityFocus	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	www.securityfocus.com	Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git - Linux kernel source tree	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	git.kernel.org
Bug 672428 – CVE-2010-4655 kernel: heap contents leak for CAP_NET_ADMIN via ethtool ioctl	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	bugzilla.redhat.com	Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory
oss-security - Re: CVE request: linux kernel heap issues	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	openwall.com	Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory
LKML: Kees Cook: [PATCH] net: clear heap allocations for privileged ethtool actions	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	lkml.org	Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory
About Secunia Research \| Flexera	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	secunia.com	Broken Link
VMSA-2011-0012.2	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	www.vmware.com	Third Party Advisory
oss-security - Re: CVE request: linux kernel heap issues	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	openwall.com	Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory
404: File not found	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	www.kernel.org	Broken Link
oss-security - Re: CVE request: linux kernel heap issues	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	openwall.com	Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory
oss-security - Re: CVE request: linux kernel heap issues	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	openwall.com	Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory
Linux Kernel 'ethtool.c' Information Disclosure Vulnerability	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	www.securityfocus.com	Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git - Linux kernel source tree	MITRE	git.kernel.org
CVE Program record	CVE.ORG	www.cve.org	canonical
NVD vulnerability detail	NVD	nvd.nist.gov	canonical, analysis

No vendor comments have been submitted for this CVE.

There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.