K21632201 : Linux kernel vulnerability CVE-2011-5321

Security Advisory Description

The tty_open function in drivers/tty/tty_io.c in the Linux kernel before 3.1.1 mishandles a driver-lookup failure, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and system crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via crafted access to a device file under the /dev/pts directory. (CVE-2011-5321)

Impact

A local, unprivileged user may exploit this vulnerability and create a situation where the system stops responding.

In the default configuration, only an administrator user has advanced shell access. If a non-administrator user is given advanced shell access in a non-default configuration, then the possibility of privilege escalation increases the exposure of this vulnerability.