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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 30 Sep 2024. Known ransomware use
Enterprise LinuxOperating system · Redhat

CVE-2017-1000253

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2017-10-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.2.70 / 3.4.109 or later.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Ransomware Zero-click Patch available

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
Linux distributions that have not patched their long-term kernels with https://git.kernel.org/linus/a87938b2e246b81b4fb713edb371a9fa3c5c3c86 (committed on April 14, 2015). This kernel vulnerability was fixed in April 2015 by commit a87938b2e246b81b4fb713edb371a9fa3c5c3c86 (backported to Linux 3.10.77 in May 2015), but it was not recognized as a security threat. With CONFIG_ARCH_BINFMT_ELF_RANDOMIZE_PIE enabled, and a normal top-down address allocation strategy, load_elf_binary() will attempt to map a PIE binary into an address range immediately below mm->mmap_base. Unfortunately, load_elf_ binary() does not take account of the need to allocate sufficient space for the entire binary which means that, while the first PT_LOAD segment is mapped below mm->mmap_base, the subsequent PT_LOAD segment(s) end up being mapped above mm->mmap_base into the are that is supposed to be the "gap" between the stack and the binary.

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 Linux kernel's load_elf_binary() function incorrectly handles memory allocation for Position Independent Executable (PIE) binaries when CONFIG_ARCH_BINFMT_ELF_RANDOMIZE_PIE is enabled. The first PT_LOAD segment maps correctly below mm->mmap_base, but subsequent segments incorrectly map above mm->mmap_base into the reserved gap between the stack and binary, allowing manipulation of process memory layout for potential privilege escalation.

MitigationApply the upstream kernel patch (commit a87938b2e246b81b4fb713edb371a9fa3c5c3c86) or upgrade to a kernel version that includes the fix (Linux 3.10.77+ with backport or later mainline).

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
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 6.1= 6.2= 6.3= 6.4= 6.5= 6.6= 6.7= 6.8= 6.9= 7.0= 7.1
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 2.6.25, < 3.2.70>= 3.3, < 3.4.109>= 3.5, < 3.10.77>= 3.11, < 3.12.43>= 3.13, < 3.14.41>= 3.15, < 3.16.35>= 3.17, < 3.18.14>= 3.19, < 3.19.7>= 4.0, < 4.0.2
CentosOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 6.1= 6.2= 6.3= 6.4= 6.5= 6.6= 6.7= 6.8= 6.9= 7.1406= 7.1503

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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. Check kernel version
    Run 'uname -r' to get the running kernel version, then compare against the affected ranges: >= 2.6.25 and < 3.2.70; >= 3.3 and < 3.4.109; >= 3.5 and < 3.10.77; >= 3.11 and < 3.12.43; >= 3.13 and < 3.14.41; >= 3.15 and < 3.16.35; >= 3.17 and < 3.18.14; >= 3.19 and < 3.19.7; >= 4.0 and < 4.0.2
    Affected if The kernel version falls within any of these vulnerable ranges and is not patched with commit a87938b2e246b81b4fb713edb371a9fa3c5c3c86
  2. Verify CONFIG_ARCH_BINFMT_ELF_RANDOMIZE_PIE is enabled
    Check /boot/config-$(uname -r) or /proc/config.gz for the line 'CONFIG_ARCH_BINFMT_ELF_RANDOMIZE_PIE=y', or use 'zcat /proc/config.gz | grep CONFIG_ARCH_BINFMT_ELF_RANDOMIZE_PIE' on a running kernel
    Affected if The config option CONFIG_ARCH_BINFMT_ELF_RANDOMIZE_PIE is set to 'y' (enabled)
  3. Confirm PIE binaries are in use
    Run 'readelf -l /path/to/binary | grep DYNAMIC' on key system binaries or check 'file /usr/bin/*' for 'PIE' designation; also check if the system uses PIE by default by examining a sample binary with 'readelf -h /bin/ls' and looking for Type: DYN (PIE)
    Affected if The environment executes PIE binaries (Type: DYN) and the kernel uses top-down address allocation (typically default on x86_64 architectures)
  4. Check architecture and address allocation mode
    Run 'uname -m' to confirm architecture (x86_64 typically uses top-down allocation); verify by examining /proc/meminfo or checking if address space layout randomization places stack at high addresses
    Affected if Running on an architecture using top-down memory allocation (such as x86_64) and PIE binaries are executed

The system is affected if it runs a vulnerable kernel version within the specified ranges, has CONFIG_ARCH_BINFMT_ELF_RANDOMIZE_PIE enabled, executes PIE binaries, and uses top-down address allocation (typical on x86_64).

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.2.70 / 3.4.109 / 3.10.77 or later
Fixed in 3.2.703.4.1093.10.77
Vendor patch www.qualys.com →
Interim mitigation

Apply the upstream kernel patch (commit a87938b2e246b81b4fb713edb371a9fa3c5c3c86) or upgrade to a kernel version that includes the fix (Linux 3.10.77+ with backport or later mainline).

Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel >= 3.10.77 (or >= 3.12.43, >= 3.4.109, >= 3.2.70 depending on branch); RHEL/CentOS 6.x vendor-supplied security update

  1. 1. Identify the current running kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. 2. For RHEL/CentOS systems, run 'yum update kernel' or 'dnf update kernel' to install the latest kernel with security patches
  3. 3. For upstream Linux kernels, upgrade to kernel version 3.10.77 or higher (for 3.10.x branch), 3.12.43 or higher (for 3.12.x branch), 3.4.109 or higher (for 3.4.x branch), or 3.2.70 or higher (for 3.2.x branch)
  4. 4. After updating the kernel package, reboot the system to load the new kernel: 'reboot'
  5. 5. Verify the new kernel is running with 'uname -r' and confirm the version is at or above the fixed versions listed above
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce compatibility issues with custom kernel modules or older drivers

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Enterprise Linux Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2017-1000253 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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