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Fencer Intel
medium 6.9

CVE-2012-0056 json

The mem_write function in the Linux kernel before 3.2.2, when ASLR is disabled, does not properly check permissions when writing to /proc/<…

published 2012-01-27 14 y ago modified 2026-06-16 4 mo ago also EUVD-2012-0094

cvss
6.9
version 2.0, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
10.8%
EPSS 10.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 95%
public exploits
2
Exploit-DB

Summary

The mem_write function in the Linux kernel before 3.2.2, when ASLR is disabled, does not properly check permissions when writing to /proc/<pid>/mem, which allows local users to gain privileges by modifying process memory, as demonstrated by Mempodipper.

Patch / fix

  • linux linux_kernel 3.0.18, 3.2.2
  • kernel-rt enterprise mrg 2 3.0.9-rt26.46.el6rt
  • kernel-rt-trace enterprise mrg 2 3.0.9-rt26.46.el6rt
  • kernel-rt-vanilla enterprise mrg 2 3.0.9-rt26.46.el6rt
  • kernel-rt-firmware enterprise mrg 2 3.0.9-rt26.46.el6rt
  • kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 enterprise mrg 2 3.0.9-rt26.46.el6rt
  • kernel RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6
  • perf RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6
  • python-perf RHEL 6 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6

red hat advisories RHSA-2012:0061RHSA-2012:0052

  • kernel-source openSUSE Tumbleweed 4.8.13-1.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2024:10128-1

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-2012-0056 updated cvss 7.2

kernel: proc: /proc/<pid>/mem mem_write insufficient permission checking

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 kernel
    affected: no fix planned “Will not fix”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) kernel 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) kernel 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-kdump 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-bootwrapper 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, +3 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) kernel 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6
    +2 more products
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) kernel 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, python-perf 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2012:0052
  • Red Hat MRG Realtime for RHEL 6 Server v.2 kernel-rt 3.0.9-rt26.46.el6rt, kernel-rt-trace 3.0.9-rt26.46.el6rt, kernel-rt-vanilla 3.0.9-rt26.46.el6rt, kernel-rt-firmware 3.0.9-rt26.46.el6rt, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.0.9-rt26.46.el6rt
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2012:0061
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 kernel
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

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

Timeline

  1. First public exploit (EDB-35161)
  2. Published

Exploit prediction

10.84% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 95% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

  • EDB-35161 Linux Kernel 2.6.39 < 3.2.2 (x86/x64) - 'Mempodipper' Local Privilege Escalation (2) local, 2012-01-12
  • EDB-18411 Linux Kernel 2.6.39 < 3.2.2 (Gentoo / Ubuntu x86/x64) - 'Mempodipper' Local Privilege Escalation (1) local, 2012-01-23

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 2.0 6.9 AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

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.