CVE-2012-6704 [High] | Memory Corruption in Linux Kernel

The sock_setsockopt function in net/core/sock.c in the Linux kernel before 3.5 mishandles negative values of sk_sndbuf and sk_rcvbuf, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (memory corruption and system crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact by leveraging the CAP_NET_ADMIN capability for a crafted setsockopt system call with the (1) SO_SNDBUF or (2) SO_RCVBUF option.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-06-15	0.13%	0.41%	+0.28%
2	2025-03-30	0.53%	0.13%	-0.40%
3	2025-03-29	—	0.53%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-06-15

0.13%

0.41%

+0.28%

2025-03-30

0.53%

0.13%

-0.40%

2025-03-29

—

0.53%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
7.8	3.1	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:L) They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. User interaction (UI:N) Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	1.8	5.9	[email protected]
7.2	2.0	HIGH	`AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C` Click to expand Access vector (AV:L) Requires local access to the target system. Access complexity (AC:L) Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable. Authentication (AU:N) No authentication is required. Confidentiality impact (C:C) Complete confidentiality impact. Integrity impact (I:C) Complete integrity impact. Availability impact (A:C) Complete availability impact.	3.9	10.0	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

7.8

3.1

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:L): They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N): Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

1.8

5.9

[email protected]

7.2

2.0

HIGH

AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand

Access vector (AV:L): Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L): Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N): No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C): Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C): Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C): Complete availability impact.

3.9

10.0

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2012-6704

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	not yet assigned	CVE-2012-6704 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5.	https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2012-6704
`redhat`	medium	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2012-6704
`suse`	medium	CVE-2012-6704 severity moderate: SUSE including 101 source package names (kernel-bigmem-3.0.101-94.1, kernel-bigmem-base-3.0.101-94.1, …), 509 product×package rows across 84 product lines (HPE Helion OpenStack 8, SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0, … (84 product lines)): Known Not Affected 330, Fixed 179.	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2012-6704/
`ubuntu`	low	CVE-2012-6704 low priority: Ubuntu including 27 source packages (linux, linux-armadaxp, …), 162 status rows across 6 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, xenial, yakkety, zesty): DNE 104, released 27, not-affected 17, ignored 14.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2012-6704

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2012-6704

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
linux	linux_kernel	< 3.2.85	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 3.3, < 3.5	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::

References for CVE-2012-6704

URL	Tags
http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=82981930125abfd39d7c8378a9cfdf5e1be2002b	Patch Vendor Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/12/03/1	Mailing List Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95135	Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1402024	Issue Tracking Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/82981930125abfd39d7c8378a9cfdf5e1be2002b	Patch Third Party Advisory

URL

CVE-2012-6704

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2012-6704

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2012-6704

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2012-6704

OS Trackers for CVE-2012-6704

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2012-6704

References for CVE-2012-6704