It was found that the Linux kernel memory resource controller's (memcg) handling of OOM (out of memory) conditions could lead to deadlocks. An attacker able to continuously spawn new processes within a single memory-constrained cgroup during an OOM event could use this flaw to lock up the system.
Find out more about CVE-2014-8171 from the MITRE CVE dictionary dictionary and NIST NVD.
This issue does not affect the Linux kernel versions as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5. This issue does affect the Linux kernel versions as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, 7 and Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2. Future updates may address this issue in the respective releases.
| Base Score | 5.7 |
|---|---|
| Base Metrics | AV:A/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C |
| Access Vector | Adjacent Network |
| Access Complexity | Medium |
| Authentication | None |
| Confidentiality Impact | None |
| Integrity Impact | None |
| Availability Impact | Complete |
Find out more about Red Hat support for the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
| Platform | Errata | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (kernel) | RHSA-2015:0864 | 2015-04-21 |
| Red Hat MRG Grid for RHEL 6 Server v.2 (kernel-rt) | RHSA-2016:0068 | 2016-01-26 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Real Time for NFV (v. 7) (kernel-rt) | RHSA-2015:2411 | 2015-11-19 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (kernel) | RHSA-2015:2152 | 2015-11-19 |
| Platform | Package | State |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | kernel | Not affected |
Vulmon