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Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime

CVE-2005-3181

Low
2.1/10

Summary

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).

  • LOW
  • LOCAL
  • NONE
  • NONE
  • NONE
  • PARTIAL

CWE-401 - Missing release of memory after effective lifetime (memory leak)

'Missing release of memory after effective lifetime (memory leak)' is a weakness that occurs when software doesn't effectively release allocated memory after it is used. If not addressed, this enables attackers to launch denial of service attacks (by crashing or hanging the program) or take advantage of other unexpected behavior resulting from low memory conditions.

References

Advisory Timeline

  • Published