Skip to content
Fencer Intel
medium 4.6

CVE-2011-4127 json

The Linux kernel before 3.2.2 does not properly restrict SG_IO ioctl calls, which allows local users to bypass intended restrictions on dis…

published 2012-07-03 14 y ago modified 2026-06-16 4 mo ago also EUVD-2011-4075

cvss
4.6
version 2.0, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.6%
EPSS 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 47%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

The Linux kernel before 3.2.2 does not properly restrict SG_IO ioctl calls, which allows local users to bypass intended restrictions on disk read and write operations by sending a SCSI command to (1) a partition block device or (2) an LVM volume.

Patch / fix

  • libguestfs Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 1:1.14.8-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2011-4127

  • kernel RHEL 5 2.6.18-274.18.1.el5
  • kernel-PAE RHEL 5 2.6.18-274.18.1.el5
  • kernel-xen RHEL 5 2.6.18-274.18.1.el5
  • kernel-kdump RHEL 5 2.6.18-274.18.1.el5
  • kernel-debuginfo-common RHEL 5 2.6.18-274.18.1.el5
  • kernel RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6
  • perf RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6
  • python-perf RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6

red hat advisories RHSA-2012:0358RHSA-2012:0107RHSA-2011:1849RHSA-2012:0333RHSA-2011:1850

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-2011-4127 updated cvss 7.4

kernel: possible privilege escalation via SG_IO ioctl

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 kernel
    affected: no fix available
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (v. 5 server) kernel 2.6.18-274.18.1.el5, kernel-PAE 2.6.18-274.18.1.el5, kernel-xen 2.6.18-274.18.1.el5, kernel-kdump 2.6.18-274.18.1.el5, kernel-debuginfo-common 2.6.18-274.18.1.el5 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 5 client) kernel 2.6.18-274.18.1.el5, kernel-PAE 2.6.18-274.18.1.el5, kernel-xen 2.6.18-274.18.1.el5, kernel-debuginfo-common 2.6.18-274.18.1.el5
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2012:0107
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) kernel 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2011:1849
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux EUS (v. 5.6 server) kernel 2.6.18-238.35.1.el5, kernel-PAE 2.6.18-238.35.1.el5, kernel-xen 2.6.18-238.35.1.el5, kernel-kdump 2.6.18-238.35.1.el5, kernel-debuginfo-common 2.6.18-238.35.1.el5
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2012:0358
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) kernel 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-kdump 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-bootwrapper 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, +3 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) kernel 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) kernel 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.2.1.el6
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2011:1849
  • Red Hat MRG Realtime for RHEL 6 Server v.2 kernel-rt 3.0.18-rt34.53.el6rt, kernel-rt-trace 3.0.18-rt34.53.el6rt, kernel-rt-vanilla 3.0.18-rt34.53.el6rt, kernel-rt-firmware 3.0.18-rt34.53.el6rt, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.0.18-rt34.53.el6rt
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2012:0333
  • Red Hat RHEV Hypervisor for RHEL-6 rhev-hypervisor6 6.2-20111215.0.el6_2, rhev-hypervisor6-tools 6.2-20111215.0.el6_2
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2011:1850

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

0.57% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 47% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/0bfc96cb77224736dfa35c3c555d37b3646ef35e referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • github.com https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/ec8013beddd717d1740cfefb1a9b900deef85462 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 2.0 4.6 AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-264 Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls
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.