CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2017-7889 — Linux Linux Kernel security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.8

The mm subsystem in the Linux kernel through 3.2 does not properly enforce the CONFIG_STRICT_DEVMEM protection mechanism, which allows local users to read or write to kernel memory locations in the first megabyte (and bypass slab-allocation access restrictions) via an application that opens the /dev/mem file, related to arch/x86/mm/init.c and drivers/char/mem.c.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.1)
Published
2017-04-17
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
linux/kernel
Weaknesses
CWE-732

Affected products

  • linux / linux_kernel
  • debian / debian_linux / 8.0
  • canonical / ubuntu_linux / 12.04
  • canonical / ubuntu_linux / 14.04

Showing 4 representative product identities from 12 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Privilege escalation and unsafe privilege management

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Map service accounts, operating-system identities, roles, capabilities, impersonation, set-user transitions, and administrative helper paths.
  • Determine whether untrusted users or lower-privilege processes can reach the affected transition or modify inputs it trusts.
  • Review file, socket, registry, device, job, container, and cloud-role permissions used before and after privilege changes.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and redesign privileged operations as a minimal, authenticated, allowlisted interface.
  • Drop privileges before processing untrusted input, verify the drop succeeds, and remove unnecessary roles, capabilities, and write permissions.
  • Validate ownership and permissions at time of use and add explicit lower-to-higher privilege boundary tests.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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