The audit system in Linux kernel 2.6.6, and other versions before 2.6.13.4, when CONFIG_AUDITSYSCALL is enabled, uses an incorrect function to free names_cache memory, which prevents the memory from being tracked by AUDITSYSCALL code and leads to a memory leak that allows attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption).
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2005-3181 is rated Low Risk (19.8/100): CVSS Low severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.15%). Mandatory action: Low composite risk—no urgent action required; patch on your normal maintenance cycle and revisit priority if CVSS or EPSS increases.
Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.
EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).
| # | Date | Old EPSS score | New EPSS score | Delta (New - Old) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2025-03-30 | 0.14% | 0.15% | +0.01% |
| 2 | 2025-03-29 | 0.15% | 0.14% | -0.01% |
| 3 | 2025-03-17 | — | 0.15% | — |
Full EPSS history (6 records total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | 2.0 | LOW |
|
3.9 | 2.9 | [email protected] |
| vendor | priority | summary | link |
|---|---|---|---|
alpine
|
— | CVE-2005-3181: no source package rows; 0 state rows across 0 repos (none); fixed 0, open 0. | https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2005-3181 |
redhat
|
high | — | https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2005-3181 |
ubuntu
|
medium | CVE-2005-3181 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (linux-source-2.6.12), 1 status rows across 1 suites (upstream): needs-triage 1. | https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2005-3181 |
| Vendor | Product | Version | Raw CPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| linux | linux_kernel | >= 2.6.0, <= 2.6.13.3 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| canonical | ubuntu_linux | 4.10 | cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:4.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| canonical | ubuntu_linux | 5.04 | cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:5.04:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| debian | debian_linux | 3.1 | cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| mandriva | linux | 10.1 | cpe:2.3:o:mandriva:linux:10.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| mandriva | linux | 10.2 | cpe:2.3:o:mandriva:linux:10.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| mandriva | linux | 2006.0 | cpe:2.3:o:mandriva:linux:2006.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |