CVE-2011-4190
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 · uneditedThe kdump implementation is missing the host key verification in the kdump and mkdumprd OpenSSH integration of kdump prior to version 2012-01-20. This is similar to CVE-2011-3588, but different in that the kdump implementation is specific to SUSE. A remote malicious kdump server could use this flaw to impersonate the correct kdump server to obtain security sensitive information (kdump core files).
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 confidenceThe kdump implementation on SUSE systems lacks SSH host key verification when connecting to remote kdump servers via OpenSSH. This allows a remote attacker to perform a man-in-the-middle attack, impersonating the legitimate kdump server to intercept and obtain sensitive kernel crash dumps (kdump core files) containing potentially confidential system memory contents.
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= 11= 11= 11.0CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify if kdump is configured to use remote SSH targetsExamine the kdump configuration files (typically /etc/kdump.conf or /etc/mkdumprd) and look for SSH-related settings or remote dump targets configured via SSH.Affected if SSH-based remote kdump targets are configured without StrictHostKeyChecking enabled in the configuration.
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Check for SSH StrictHostKeyChecking in kdump configurationSearch the kdump configuration files for 'StrictHostKeyChecking' or 'VerifyHost' directives and their values. Also check for 'StrictHostKeyChecking=no' or missing host key verification settings.Affected if Host key verification is disabled, set to 'no', or absent from the kdump SSH configuration.
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Identify the installed kdump versionRun 'rpm -q kdump' or 'rpm -q mkdumprd' (or query the package manager) to determine the installed version of the kdump packages.Affected if The installed version is older than the patched versions released after 2012-01-20, indicating the vulnerability is present.
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Review mkdumprd script for SSH optionsInspect the mkdumprd init script or configuration (typically in /etc/init.d/mkdumprd or /etc/sysconfig/kdump) for how SSH connections are established to remote kdump servers.Affected if The SSH connection parameters in the kdump setup do not enforce host key verification.
A system is affected if kdump is configured to send crash dumps to a remote server over SSH and the SSH StrictHostKeyChecking option is not enabled or is set to disabled.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataImplement SSH StrictHostKeyChecking in kdump/mkdumprd configuration to verify the remote kdump server's host key before establishing connections, or upgrade to kdump versions released after 2012-01-20 that include host key verification.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-4190 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2011-4190 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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