Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2010-2960

The keyctl_session_to_parent function in security/keys/keyctl.c in the Linux kernel 2.6.35.4 and earlier expects that a certain parent session keyring exists, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and system crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a KEYCTL_SESSION_TO_PARENT argument to the keyctl function.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a HIGH severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.8, requiring local system access to exploit with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction requiring only low-level privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 4 products from linux, from canonical, from suse and 1 other, organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Documented in 2010, this vulnerability occurred amid the cloud computing expansion era, where traditional network perimeter security models were being reevaluated. Organizations were transitioning from isolated infrastructure to interconnected systems, creating new attack surfaces that vulnerabilities like this could exploit.

Published

2010-09-08T20:00:04.027

Last Modified

2025-04-11T00:51:21.963

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 7.8 (HIGH)

CVSSv2 Vector

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

Access Vector: LOCAL
Access Complexity: LOW
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: COMPLETE
Integrity Impact: COMPLETE
Availability Impact: COMPLETE

Exploitability Score

3.9

Impact Score

10.0

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-476

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Operating System	linux	linux_kernel	< 2.6.35.4	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	6.06	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	8.04	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	9.04	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	9.10	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	10.04	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	10.10	Yes
Operating System	suse	suse_linux_enterprise_desktop	11	Yes
Operating System	suse	suse_linux_enterprise_server	11	Yes

References

http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2010-10/msg00003.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2011-02/msg00000.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://secunia.com/advisories/41263 Broken Link ([email protected])
http://securitytracker.com/id?1024384 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://twitter.com/taviso/statuses/22777866582 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/02/1 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/42932 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1000-1 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2011/0298 Broken Link ([email protected])
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=627440 Exploit, Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/61557 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2010-10/msg00003.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2011-02/msg00000.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://secunia.com/advisories/41263 Broken Link (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://securitytracker.com/id?1024384 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://twitter.com/taviso/statuses/22777866582 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/09/02/1 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/42932 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1000-1 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2011/0298 Broken Link (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=627440 Exploit, Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/61557 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For linux's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.