CVE-2018-1091

In the flush_tmregs_to_thread function in arch/powerpc/kernel/ptrace.c in the Linux kernel before 4.13.5, a guest kernel crash can be triggered from unprivileged userspace during a core dump on a POWER host due to a missing processor feature check and an erroneous use of transactional memory (TM) instructions in the core dump path, leading to a denial of service.

Published: 2018-03-27 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2018-1091 is rated Low Risk (29.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.08%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2018-1091

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 0.35% 0.08% -0.27%
2 2025-03-29 0.06% 0.35% +0.29%
3 2023-03-21 — 0.06% —

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-1091

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 3.6 [email protected]
4.9 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 3.9 6.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-1091

OS Trackers for CVE-2018-1091

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2018-1091 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-2018-1091
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-1091
suse low CVE-2018-1091 severity low: SUSE including 123 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default-4.12.14-120.1, cluster-md-kmp-default-4.4.121-92.109.2, …), 423 product×package rows across 92 product lines (SLES for SAP Applications 11 SP3, SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0, … (92 product lines)): Known Not Affected 227, Fixed 196. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-1091/
ubuntu medium CVE-2018-1091 medium priority: Ubuntu including 23 source packages (linux, linux-aws, …), 92 status rows across 4 suites (artful, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 51, released 25, not-affected 16. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-1091

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-1091

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel <= 4.13.4 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2018-1091

cvelogic Threat Intelligence