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Fencer Intel
medium 5.5

CVE-2011-4081 json

crypto/ghash-generic.c in the Linux kernel before 3.1 allows local users to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and OOPS) o…

published 2012-05-24 14 y ago modified 2026-06-16 4 mo ago also EUVD-2011-4032

cvss
5.5
version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.5%
EPSS 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 39%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

crypto/ghash-generic.c in the Linux kernel before 3.1 allows local users to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and OOPS) or possibly have unspecified other impact by triggering a failed or missing ghash_setkey function call, followed by a (1) ghash_update function call or (2) ghash_final function call, as demonstrated by a write operation on an AF_ALG socket.

Patch / fix

  • linux linux_kernel 3.1
  • kernel RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6
  • perf RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6
  • python-perf RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6
  • kernel-kdump RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6
  • kernel-firmware RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6
  • kernel-bootwrapper RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64 RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6

red hat advisories RHSA-2012:0350RHSA-2012:0010

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2011-4081 updated cvss 4.9

kernel: crypto: ghash: null pointer deref if no key is set

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-kdump 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-bootwrapper 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, +4 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-kdump 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-bootwrapper 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, +4 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-kdump 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-bootwrapper 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, +4 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-kdump 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-bootwrapper 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, +4 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-kdump 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-bootwrapper 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, +4 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-kdump 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-bootwrapper 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, +4 more
    +2 more products
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-kdump 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-bootwrapper 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, +4 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-kdump 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, kernel-bootwrapper 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6, +4 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2012:0350
  • Red Hat MRG Realtime for RHEL 6 Server v.2 kernel-rt 2.6.33.9-rt31.79.el6rt, kernel-rt-trace 2.6.33.9-rt31.79.el6rt, kernel-rt-vanilla 2.6.33.9-rt31.79.el6rt, kernel-rt-firmware 2.6.33.9-rt31.79.el6rt, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.33.9-rt31.79.el6rt
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2012:0010

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

0.45% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 39% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/7ed47b7d142ec99ad6880bbbec51e9f12b3af74c referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 3.1 5.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
NVD 2.0 4.9 AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C

Classification

Weakness
Technology feeds

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.