CVE-2016-4470
kernel: Uninitialized variable in request_key handling causes kernel crash in error handling path
Severity
ImportantRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.0
Review impact separately from score.
Published · June 15, 2016
Updated · June 28, 2026
Description
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's keyring handling code: the key_reject_and_link() function could be forced to free an arbitrary memory block. An attacker could use this flaw to trigger a use-after-free condition on the system, potentially allowing for privilege escalation.
Statement
This issue affects the Linux kernels as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and may be addressed in a future update.
This issue does not affect the Linux kernel packages as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 and Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2 as the due updates to fix this issue have been shipped now.
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
No mitigation is specified in collected source.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.0 · 7.8CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.0 · 6.9AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
CWE-253 · Incorrect Check of Function Return Value