CVE-2015-2877
** DISPUTED ** Kernel Samepage Merging (KSM) in the Linux kernel 2.6.32 through 4.x does not...
Kernel Samepage Merging (KSM) in the Linux kernel 2.6.32 through 4.x does not prevent use of a write-timing side channel, which allows guest OS users to defeat the ASLR protection mechanism on other guest OS instances via a Cross-VM ASL INtrospection (CAIN) attack. NOTE: the vendor states "Basically if you care about this attack vector, disable deduplication." Share-until-written approaches for memory conservation among mutually untrusting tenants are inherently detectable for information disclosure, and can be classified as potentially misunderstood behaviors rather than vulnerabilities
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
3.3
Kernel Samepage Merging (KSM) in the Linux kernel 2.6.32 through 4.x does not prevent use of a write-timing side channel, which allows guest OS users to defeat the ASLR protection mechanism on other guest OS instances via a Cross-VM ASL INtrospection (CAIN) attack. NOTE: the vendor states "Basically if you care about this attack vector, disable deduplication." Share-until-written approaches for memory conservation among mutually untrusting tenants are inherently detectable for information disclosure, and can be classified as potentially misunderstood behaviors rather than vulnerabilities
- Record
CVE-2015-2877- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - CVSS 2.0
- 2.1 Low
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-200
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
Kernel Samepage Merging (KSM) in the Linux kernel 2.6.32 through 4.x does not prevent use of a write-timing side channel, which allows guest OS users to defeat the ASLR protection mechanism on other guest OS instances via a Cross-VM ASL INtrospection (CAIN) attack. NOTE: the vendor states "Basically if you care about this attack vector, disable deduplication." Share-until-written approaches for memory conservation among mutually untrusting tenants are inherently detectable for information disclosure, and can be classified as potentially misunderstood behaviors rather than vulnerabilities
- Record
CVE-2015-2877- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2015-2965 No score
Kernel Samepage Merging (KSM) in the Linux kernel 2.6.32 through 4.x does not prevent use of a write-timing side channel, which allows guest OS users to defeat the ASLR protection mechanism on other guest OS instances via a Cross-VM ASL INtrospection (CAIN) attack. NOTE: the vendor states "Basically if you care about this attack vector, disable deduplication." Share-until-written approaches for memory conservation among mutually untrusting tenants are inherently detectable for information disclosure, and can be classified as potentially misunderstood behaviors rather than vulnerabilities
- Record
EUVD-2015-2965- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-4pm5-34cf-2v36
3.3
** DISPUTED ** Kernel Samepage Merging (KSM) in the Linux kernel 2.6.32 through 4.x does not...
** DISPUTED ** Kernel Samepage Merging (KSM) in the Linux kernel 2.6.32 through 4.x does not prevent use of a write-timing side channel, which allows guest OS users to defeat the ASLR protection mechanism on other guest OS instances via a Cross-VM ASL INtrospection (CAIN) attack. NOTE: the vendor states "Basically if you care about this attack vector, disable deduplication." Share-until-written approaches for memory conservation among mutually untrusting tenants are inherently detectable for information disclosure, and can be classified as potentially misunderstood behaviors rather than vulnerabilities.
- Record
GHSA-4pm5-34cf-2v36- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-200
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVBELL-CVE-2015-2877
3.3
- Record
BELL-CVE-2015-2877- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
3.3
Kernel Samepage Merging (KSM) in the Linux kernel 2.6.32 through 4.x does not prevent use of a write-timing side channel, which allows guest OS users to defeat the ASLR protection mechanism on other guest OS instances via a Cross-VM ASL INtrospection (CAIN) attack. NOTE: the vendor states "Basically if you care about this attack vector, disable deduplication." Share-until-written approaches for memory conservation among mutually untrusting tenants are inherently detectable for information disclosure, and can be classified as potentially misunderstood behaviors rather than vulnerabilities
- Record
CVE-2015-2877- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2015-2877
3.3
Kernel Samepage Merging (KSM) in the Linux kernel 2.6.32 through 4.x does not prevent use of a write-timing side channel, which allows guest OS users to defeat the ASLR protection mechanism on other guest OS instances via a Cross-VM ASL INtrospection (CAIN) attack. NOTE: the vendor states "Basically if you care about this attack vector, disable deduplication." Share-until-written approaches for memory conservation among mutually untrusting tenants are inherently detectable for information disclosure, and can be classified as potentially misunderstood behaviors rather than vulnerabilities
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2015-2877- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2015-2877
3.3
** DISPUTED ** Kernel Samepage Merging (KSM) in the Linux kernel 2.6.32 through 4.x does not prevent use of a write-timing side channel, which allows guest OS users to defeat the ASLR protection mechanism on other guest OS instances via a Cross-VM ASL INtrospection (CAIN) attack. NOTE: the vendor states "Basically if you care about this attack vector, disable deduplication." Share-until-written approaches for memory conservation among mutually untrusting tenants are inherently detectable for information disclosure, and can be classified as potentially misunderstood behaviors rather than vulnerabilities.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2015-2877- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - CVSS 3.0
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
linux-ltsAlpaquita:stream |
6.1.33-r0 and later | None known |
linuxDebian:12 |
All versions, plus listed versions 6.1.106-16.1.106-26.1.106-36.1.112-16.1.115-1 Show 45 moreShow less6.1.119-16.1.123-16.1.124-16.1.128-16.1.129-16.1.133-16.1.135-16.1.137-16.1.139-16.1.140-16.1.147-16.1.148-16.1.153-16.1.158-16.1.159-16.1.162-16.1.164-16.1.170-16.1.170-26.1.170-36.1.172-16.1.174-16.1.176-16.1.177-16.1.180-16.1.187-16.1.27-16.1.37-16.1.38-16.1.38-26.1.38-2~bpo11+16.1.38-36.1.38-46.1.38-4~bpo11+16.1.52-16.1.55-16.1.55-1~bpo11+16.1.64-16.1.66-16.1.67-16.1.69-16.1.69-1~bpo11+16.1.76-16.1.76-1~bpo11+16.1.82-1 |
None known |
linuxDebian:13 |
All versions, plus listed versions 6.12.100-16.12.101-16.12.105-16.12.107-16.12.38-1 Show 45 moreShow less6.12.41-16.12.43-16.12.43-1~bpo12+16.12.48-16.12.57-16.12.57-1~bpo12+16.12.63-16.12.63-1~bpo12+16.12.69-16.12.69-1~bpo12+16.12.73-16.12.73-1~bpo12+16.12.74-16.12.74-26.12.74-2~bpo12+16.12.85-16.12.85-1~bpo12+16.12.86-16.12.86-1~bpo12+16.12.88-16.12.88-1~bpo12+16.12.90-16.12.90-1~bpo12+16.12.90-26.12.90-2~bpo12+16.12.94-16.12.94-1~bpo12+16.12.95-16.12.95-1~bpo12+16.12.96-16.13.10-1~exp16.13.11-1~exp16.13.2-1~exp16.13.3-1~exp16.13.4-1~exp16.13.5-1~exp16.13.6-1~exp16.13.7-1~exp16.13.8-1~exp16.13.9-1~exp16.13~rc6-1~exp16.13~rc7-1~exp16.14.3-1~exp16.14.5-1~exp16.14.6-1~exp1 |
None known |
linuxDebian:14 |
All versions, plus listed versions 6.12.100-16.12.101-16.12.105-16.12.107-16.12.38-1 Show 45 moreShow less6.12.41-16.12.43-16.12.43-1~bpo12+16.12.48-16.12.57-16.12.57-1~bpo12+16.12.63-16.12.63-1~bpo12+16.12.69-16.12.69-1~bpo12+16.12.73-16.12.73-1~bpo12+16.12.74-16.12.74-26.12.74-2~bpo12+16.12.85-16.12.85-1~bpo12+16.12.86-16.12.86-1~bpo12+16.12.88-16.12.88-1~bpo12+16.12.90-16.12.90-1~bpo12+16.12.90-26.12.90-2~bpo12+16.12.94-16.12.94-1~bpo12+16.12.95-16.12.95-1~bpo12+16.12.96-16.13.10-1~exp16.13.11-1~exp16.13.2-1~exp16.13.3-1~exp16.13.4-1~exp16.13.5-1~exp16.13.6-1~exp16.13.7-1~exp16.13.8-1~exp16.13.9-1~exp16.13~rc6-1~exp16.13~rc7-1~exp16.14.3-1~exp16.14.5-1~exp16.14.6-1~exp1 |
None known |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected | ||
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2015-2877 is a low vulnerability (CVSS 3.3) in Linux Kernel, published March 3, 2017. Its validity is disputed. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.94%, the 61st percentile.
References
securityfocus.com/bid/76256
kb.cert.org/vuls/id/935424
antoniobarresi.com/files/cain_advisory.txt
kb.cert.org/vuls/id/BGAR-A2CNKG
kb.cert.org/vuls/id/BLUU-9ZAHZH
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1252096
Show 10 moreShow less
usenix.org/system/files/conference/woot15/woot15-paper-barresi.pdf
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-2877
github.com/advisories/GHSA-4pm5-34cf-2v36
docs.bell-sw.com/security/cves/CVE-2015-2877
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2015-2877
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2015-2877
usenix.org/conference/woot15/workshop-program/presentation/barresi
antoniobarresi.com/security/cloud/2015/07/30/cain
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2015-2877
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-2877
Left out here: 555 versions. The JSON record has them.