Medium

DoS via Infinite Loop in Linux Kernel ATM svc_listen

IdentifiersCVE-2008-5079CWE-835

A vulnerability in net/atm/svc.c in the ATM subsystem of the Linux kernel (versions 2.6.27.8 and earlier) allows a local user to trigger a kernel infinite loop. This is accomplished by making two calls to svc_listen on the same socket, followed by reading a /proc/net/atm/*vc file, which leads to corruption of the vcc table and results in the infinite loop.

For your environment

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Local users can cause a denial of service by triggering a kernel infinite loop, effectively hanging the system and requiring a reboot to recover. This can be exploited to disrupt system availability.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

Restrict local user access to the ATM subsystem and /proc/net/atm/*vc files. Apply kernel patches as soon as they become available. Consider disabling the ATM subsystem if not required.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade to a patched version of the Linux kernel where this issue has been resolved. Ensure that the ATM subsystem code properly handles multiple svc_listen calls on the same socket and validates the vcc table state before processing /proc/net/atm/*vc reads.

PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No valid public exploits. Mallory filtered out 1 candidate as fakes, detection scripts, or README-only repos.

VALID 0 / 1 TOTALView more in app

All candidate exploits were filtered out by Mallory's validation.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType

LinuxLinux Kerneloperating_system

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

No public activity tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

0 SOURCESView more in app

No public activity observed for this vulnerability.

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

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Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity