Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2010-4655

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.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.5, 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), for affected systems. Impacting 3 products from linux, from vmware, from canonical organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Documented in 2011, 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

2011-07-18T19:55:00.737

Last Modified

2025-04-11T00:51:21.963

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 5.5 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

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

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

Exploitability Score

3.9

Impact Score

2.9

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-665

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Operating System	linux	linux_kernel	< 2.6.36	Yes
Operating System	vmware	esx	4.0	Yes
Operating System	vmware	esx	4.1	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	8.04	Yes

References

http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=b00916b189d13a615ff05c9242201135992fcda3 ([email protected])
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/01/24/9 Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/01/25/3 Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/01/25/4 Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/01/25/5 Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/01/28/1 Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://secunia.com/advisories/46397 Broken Link ([email protected])
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ChangeLog-2.6.36 Broken Link ([email protected])
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/520102/100/0/threaded Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/45972 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1146-1 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2011-0012.html Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=672428 Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://lkml.org/lkml/2010/10/7/297 Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=b00916b189d13a615ff05c9242201135992fcda3 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/01/24/9 Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/01/25/3 Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/01/25/4 Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/01/25/5 Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/01/28/1 Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://secunia.com/advisories/46397 Broken Link (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ChangeLog-2.6.36 Broken Link (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/520102/100/0/threaded Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/45972 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1146-1 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2011-0012.html Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=672428 Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://lkml.org/lkml/2010/10/7/297 Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory (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.