CVE-2017-5550 — Off-by-one error in the pipe_advance function in lib/iov_iter

Off-by-one error in the pipe_advance function in lib/iov_iter.c in the Linux kernel before 4.9.5 allows local users to obtain sensitive information from uninitialized heap-memory locations in opportunistic circumstances by reading from a pipe after an incorrect buffer-release dec

01What is this vulnerability?

Off-by-one error in the pipe_advance function in lib/iov_iter.c in the Linux kernel before 4.9.5 allows local users to obtain sensitive information from uninitialized heap-memory locations in opportunistic circumstances by reading from a pipe after an incorrect buffer-release decision.

02Affected products

No structured affected-product list available — see references below for vendor advisories.

03Active exploitation status

Not currently listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. EPSS is the best forward-looking signal — see the EPSS row above.

04Recommended remediation

• Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
• Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
• Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.

05Technical details

For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.

06Detection signatures

Ask SARA in chat to draft a starting detection for this CVE in your stack of choice.

07Related CVEs

No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.

08Timeline

• Published: 2017-02-06T06:59:00.667
• Last modified: 2026-05-13T00:24:29.033

09References

• git.kernel.org — http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=b9dc6f…
• www.kernel.org — http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v4.x/ChangeLog-4.9.5
• www.openwall.com — http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/01/21/3
• www.securityfocus.com — http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95716
• bugzilla.redhat.com — https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1416116
• github.com — https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/b9dc6f65bc5e232d1c05fe34b5daadc7e8bbf1f…
• git.kernel.org — http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=b9dc6f…
• www.kernel.org — http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v4.x/ChangeLog-4.9.5
• www.openwall.com — http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/01/21/3
• www.securityfocus.com — http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95716