In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
proc/vmcore: fix clearing user buffer by properly using clear_user()
To clear a user buffer we cannot simply use memset, we have to use
clear_user(). With a virtio-mem device that registers a vmcore_cb and
has some logically unplugged memory inside an added Linux memory block,
I can easily trigger a BUG by copying the vmcore via "cp":
systemd[1]: Starting Kdump Vmcore Save Service...
kdump[420]: Kdump is using the default log level(3).
kdump[453]: saving to /sysroot/var/crash/127.0.0.1-2021-11-11-14:59:22/
kdump[458]: saving vmcore-dmesg.txt to /sysroot/var/crash/127.0.0.1-2021-11-11-14:59:22/
kdump[465]: saving vmcore-dmesg.txt complete
kdump[467]: saving vmcore
BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: 00007f2374e01000
#PF: supervisor write access in kernel mode
#PF: error_code(0x0003) - permissions violation
PGD 7a523067 P4D 7a523067 PUD 7a528067 PMD 7a525067 PTE 800000007048f867
Oops: 0003 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI
CPU: 0 PID: 468 Comm: cp Not tainted 5.15.0+ #6
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.14.0-27-g64f37cc530f1-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014
RIP: 0010:read_from_oldmem.part.0.cold+0x1d/0x86
Code: ff ff ff e8 05 ff fe ff e9 b9 e9 7f ff 48 89 de 48 c7 c7 38 3b 60 82 e8 f1 fe fe ff 83 fd 08 72 3c 49 8d 7d 08 4c 89 e9 89 e8 <49> c7 45 00 00 00 00 00 49 c7 44 05 f8 00 00 00 00 48 83 e7 f81
RSP: 0018:ffffc9000073be08 EFLAGS: 00010212
RAX: 0000000000001000 RBX: 00000000002fd000 RCX: 00007f2374e01000
RDX: 0000000000000001 RSI: 00000000ffffdfff RDI: 00007f2374e01008
RBP: 0000000000001000 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffffc9000073bc50
R10: ffffc9000073bc48 R11: ffffffff829461a8 R12: 000000000000f000
R13: 00007f2374e01000 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: ffff88807bd421e8
FS: 00007f2374e12140(0000) GS:ffff88807f000000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 00007f2374e01000 CR3: 000000007a4aa000 CR4: 0000000000350eb0
Call Trace:
read_vmcore+0x236/0x2c0
proc_reg_read+0x55/0xa0
vfs_read+0x95/0x190
ksys_read+0x4f/0xc0
do_syscall_64+0x3b/0x90
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae
Some x86-64 CPUs have a CPU feature called "Supervisor Mode Access
Prevention (SMAP)", which is used to detect wrong access from the kernel
to user buffers like this: SMAP triggers a permissions violation on
wrong access. In the x86-64 variant of clear_user(), SMAP is properly
handled via clac()+stac().
To fix, properly use clear_user() when we're dealing with a user buffer.
What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)
The EG score (7.8): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 7.8 is its impact severity (EG Severity), not escalated.
- EG Severity
- 7.8 HIGHCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.NVD CVSS v3 · CVSS v3.0 or v3.1
- EG Likelihood
- 0.2% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-10-28). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
- Confirmed exploitation
- None on record (CISA KEV, EG-KEV Tier 1)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
- EG Priority
- SSVC Track at medium mission impactTrack at every mission impact level.CISA BOD 26-04: 60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.Each input and its source, and whom BOD 26-04 binds: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at every mission impact level.
A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines.
Exploitation none (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table
BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.
The score's inputs: In CISA KEV no (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it