CVE-2019-11479
kernel: tcp: excessive resource consumption for TCP connections with low MSS allows remote denial of service
Severity
ModerateRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.0
Review impact separately from score.
Published · June 18, 2019
Updated · June 28, 2026
Description
An excessive resource consumption flaw was found in the way the Linux kernel's networking subsystem processed TCP segments. If the Maximum Segment Size (MSS) of a TCP connection was set to low values, such as 48 bytes, it can leave as little as 8 bytes for the user data, which significantly increases the Linux kernel's resource (CPU, Memory, and Bandwidth) utilization. A remote attacker could use this flaw to cause a denial of service (DoS) by repeatedly sending network traffic on a TCP connection with low TCP MSS.
Statement
Red Hat Product Security is aware of this issue. Updates will be released as they become available. For additional information, please refer to the Red Hat Knowledgebase article: https://access.redhat.com/security/vulnerabilities/tcpsack
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 is now in the Extended Life Phase of maintenance life cycle. This has been rated as having Moderate security impact and is not currently planned to be addressed in future updates. For additional information, refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Life Cycle: https://access.redhat.com/support/policy/updates/errata/.
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
For mitigation, please refer to the Red Hat Knowledgebase article: https://access.redhat.com/security/vulnerabilities/tcpsack
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.0 · 5.3CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
CWE-400 · Uncontrolled Resource Consumption