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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2006-2936

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2006-07-10
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
87/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The ftdi_sio driver (usb/serial/ftdi_sio.c) in Linux kernel 2.6.x up to 2.6.17, and possibly later versions, allows local users to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) by writing more data to the serial port than the hardware can handle, which causes the data to be queued.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The ftdi_sio USB-serial driver in Linux kernel 2.6.x lacks proper bounds checking on transmit buffer allocation. When a local user writes more data to a serial port than the FTDI hardware can handle, the excess data is queued in kernel memory without limit, leading to memory exhaustion and system DoS.

MitigationUpgrade to Linux kernel 2.6.18 or later which contains the bounds-checking fix, or apply the upstream patch that limits queued transmit data to prevent unbounded memory consumption.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:= 2.6.0= 2.6.1= 2.6.2= 2.6.3= 2.6.4= 2.6.5= 2.6.6= 2.6.7= 2.6.8= 2.6.8.1= 2.6.9= 2.6.10

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Complete

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the running kernel version
    Run 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version' to obtain the kernel version
    Affected if The kernel version is 2.6.0, 2.6.1, 2.6.2, 2.6.3, 2.6.4, 2.6.5, 2.6.6, 2.6.7, 2.6.8, 2.6.8.1, 2.6.9, or 2.6.10
  2. Determine if the ftdi_sio driver is loaded
    Run 'lsmod | grep ftdi_sio' or check 'modinfo ftdi_sio'
    Affected if The ftdi_sio kernel module is loaded or loadable on the system
  3. Detect connected FTDI USB-serial devices
    Run 'lsusb' and look for FTDI entries, or check for '/dev/ttyUSB*' devices
    Affected if Any FTDI USB-to-serial converter device is connected and recognized by the system
  4. Verify write access to serial ports
    Check device permissions on '/dev/ttyUSB*' entries and identify local users with access
    Affected if Local unprivileged users have write access to FTDI serial ports and can send data to them

You are affected if you are running a kernel in the 2.6.0-2.6.10 range, the ftdi_sio driver is available, and an FTDI USB-serial device is connected while local users can write to the serial port.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to Linux kernel 2.6.18 or later which contains the bounds-checking fix, or apply the upstream patch that limits queued transmit data to prevent unbounded memory consumption.

Fix this in Linux Kernel Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2006-2936 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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