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CVE-2017-1000255

On Linux running on PowerPC hardware (Power8 or later) a user process can craft a signal frame...

5.5 MediumFix available

On Linux running on PowerPC hardware (Power8 or later) a user process can craft a signal frame and then do a sigreturn so that the kernel will take an exception (interrupt), and use the r1 value from the signal frame as the kernel stack pointer. As part of the exception entry the content of the signal frame is written to the kernel stack, allowing an attacker to overwrite arbitrary locations with arbitrary values. The exception handling does produce an oops, and a panic if panic_on_oops=1, but only after kernel memory has been over written. This flaw was introduced in commit: "5d176f751ee3 (powerpc: tm: Enable transactional memory (TM) lazily for userspace)" which was merged upstream into v4.9-rc1. Please note that kernels built with CONFIG_PPC_TRANSACTIONAL_MEM=n are not vulnerable.

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
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

Exploit likelihood

0.38%Down 5.8 points since Apr 14, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

NVD Score used 5.5

On Linux running on PowerPC hardware (Power8 or later) a user process can craft a signal frame and then do a sigreturn so that the kernel will take an exception (interrupt), and use the r1 value from the signal frame as the kernel stack pointer. As part of the exception entry the content of the signal frame is written to the kernel stack, allowing an attacker to overwrite arbitrary locations with arbitrary values. The exception handling does produce an oops, and a panic if panic_on_oops=1, but only after kernel memory has been over written. This flaw was introduced in commit: "5d176f751ee3 (powerpc: tm: Enable transactional memory (TM) lazily for userspace)" which was merged upstream into v4.9-rc1. Please note that kernels built with CONFIG_PPC_TRANSACTIONAL_MEM=n are not vulnerable.

Record
CVE-2017-1000255
CVSS 3.0
5.5 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
CVSS 2.0
6.6 MediumAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:C/A:C
Weakness
CWE-787
Updated
2026-11-02
CVE List No score

On Linux running on PowerPC hardware (Power8 or later) a user process can craft a signal frame and then do a sigreturn so that the kernel will take an exception (interrupt), and use the r1 value from the signal frame as the kernel stack pointer. As part of the exception entry the content of the signal frame is written to the kernel stack, allowing an attacker to overwrite arbitrary locations with arbitrary values. The exception handling does produce an oops, and a panic if panic_on_oops=1, but only after kernel memory has been over written. This flaw was introduced in commit: "5d176f751ee3 (powerpc: tm: Enable transactional memory (TM) lazily for userspace)" which was merged upstream into v4.9-rc1. Please note that kernels built with CONFIG_PPC_TRANSACTIONAL_MEM=n are not vulnerable.

Record
CVE-2017-1000255
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2017-1516 No score

On Linux running on PowerPC hardware (Power8 or later) a user process can craft a signal frame and then do a sigreturn so that the kernel will take an exception (interrupt), and use the r1 value from the signal frame as the kernel stack pointer. As part of the exception entry the content of the signal frame is written to the kernel stack, allowing an attacker to overwrite arbitrary locations with arbitrary values. The exception handling does produce an oops, and a panic if panic_on_oops=1, but only after kernel memory has been over written. This flaw was introduced in commit: "5d176f751ee3 (powerpc: tm: Enable transactional memory (TM) lazily for userspace)" which was merged upstream into v4.9-rc1. Please note that kernels built with CONFIG_PPC_TRANSACTIONAL_MEM=n are not vulnerable.

Record
EUVD-2017-1516
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-7w7v-hmqg-8956 5.5

On Linux running on PowerPC hardware (Power8 or later) a user process can craft a signal frame...

On Linux running on PowerPC hardware (Power8 or later) a user process can craft a signal frame and then do a sigreturn so that the kernel will take an exception (interrupt), and use the r1 value from the signal frame as the kernel stack pointer. As part of the exception entry the content of the signal frame is written to the kernel stack, allowing an attacker to overwrite arbitrary locations with arbitrary values. The exception handling does produce an oops, and a panic if panic_on_oops=1, but only after kernel memory has been over written. This flaw was introduced in commit: "5d176f751ee3 (powerpc: tm: Enable transactional memory (TM) lazily for userspace)" which was merged upstream into v4.9-rc1. Please note that kernels built with CONFIG_PPC_TRANSACTIONAL_MEM=n are not vulnerable.

Record
GHSA-7w7v-hmqg-8956
CVSS 3.0
5.5 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Weakness
CWE-787
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 5.5

On Linux running on PowerPC hardware (Power8 or later) a user process can craft a signal frame and then do a sigreturn so that the kernel will take an exception (interrupt), and use the r1 value from the signal frame as the kernel stack pointer. As part of the exception entry the content of the signal frame is written to the kernel stack, allowing an attacker to overwrite arbitrary locations with arbitrary values. The exception handling does produce an oops, and a panic if panic_on_oops=1, but only after kernel memory has been over written. This flaw was introduced in commit: "5d176f751ee3 (powerpc: tm: Enable transactional memory (TM) lazily for userspace)" which was merged upstream into v4.9-rc1. Please note that kernels built with CONFIG_PPC_TRANSACTIONAL_MEM=n are not vulnerable.

Record
CVE-2017-1000255
CVSS 3.0
5.5 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2017-1000255 5.5

On Linux running on PowerPC hardware (Power8 or later) a user process can craft a signal frame and then do a sigreturn so that the kernel will take an exception (interrupt), and use the r1 value from the signal frame as the kernel stack pointer. As part of the exception entry the content of the signal frame is written to the kernel stack, allowing an attacker to overwrite arbitrary locations with arbitrary values. The exception handling does produce an oops, and a panic if panic_on_oops=1, but only after kernel memory has been over written. This flaw was introduced in commit: "5d176f751ee3 (powerpc: tm: Enable transactional memory (TM) lazily for userspace)" which was merged upstream into v4.9-rc1. Please note that kernels built with CONFIG_PPC_TRANSACTIONAL_MEM=n are not vulnerable.

Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2017-1000255
CVSS 3.0
5.5 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVRHSA-2018:0654 8.1

Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel-alt security, bug fix, and enhancement update

Record
RHSA-2018:0654
CVSS 3.0
8.1 HighCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2017-1000255 5.5

On Linux running on PowerPC hardware (Power8 or later) a user process can craft a signal frame and then do a sigreturn so that the kernel will take an exception (interrupt), and use the r1 value from the signal frame as the kernel stack pointer. As part of the exception entry the content of the signal frame is written to the kernel stack, allowing an attacker to overwrite arbitrary locations with arbitrary values. The exception handling does produce an oops, and a panic if panic_on_oops=1, but only after kernel memory has been over written. This flaw was introduced in commit: "5d176f751ee3 (powerpc: tm: Enable transactional memory (TM) lazily for userspace)" which was merged upstream into v4.9-rc1. Please note that kernels built with CONFIG_PPC_TRANSACTIONAL_MEM=n are not vulnerable.

Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2017-1000255
CVSS 3.0
5.5 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUSN-3443-2 No score

linux-hwe vulnerabilities

USN-3443-1 fixed vulnerabilities in the Linux kernel for Ubuntu 17.04. This update provides the corresponding updates for the Linux Hardware Enablement (HWE) kernel from Ubuntu 17.04 for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.

It was discovered that on the PowerPC architecture, the kernel did not properly sanitize the signal stack when handling sigreturn(). A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2017-1000255)

Andrey Konovalov discovered that a divide-by-zero error existed in the TCP stack implementation in the Linux kernel. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash). (CVE-2017-14106)

Record
USN-3443-2
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
linux
Debian:12
before 4.13.4-2
4.13.4-2
linux
Debian:13
before 4.13.4-2
4.13.4-2
linux
Debian:14
before 4.13.4-2
4.13.4-2
kernel
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
kernel-abi-whitelists
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
kernel-alt
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
kernel-bootwrapper
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
kernel-debug
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
kernel-debug-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
kernel-debug-devel
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
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Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
kernel-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
kernel-devel
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
kernel-doc
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
kernel-headers
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
kernel-kdump
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
kernel-kdump-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
kernel-kdump-devel
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
kernel-tools
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
kernel-tools-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
kernel-tools-libs
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
perf
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
perf-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
python-perf
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
python-perf-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
kernel-tools-libs-devel
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server
before 0:4.14.0-49.el7a
0:4.14.0-49.el7a
linux-hwe
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS
before 4.10.0-37.41~16.04.1, plus listed versions
4.8.0-36.36~16.04.14.8.0-39.42~16.04.14.8.0-41.44~16.04.14.8.0-42.45~16.04.14.8.0-44.47~16.04.1
Show 15 moreShow less
4.8.0-45.48~16.04.14.8.0-46.49~16.04.14.8.0-49.52~16.04.14.8.0-51.54~16.04.14.8.0-52.55~16.04.14.8.0-53.56~16.04.14.8.0-54.57~16.04.14.8.0-56.61~16.04.14.8.0-58.63~16.04.14.10.0-27.30~16.04.24.10.0-28.32~16.04.24.10.0-30.34~16.04.14.10.0-32.36~16.04.14.10.0-33.37~16.04.14.10.0-35.39~16.04.1
4.10.0-37.41~16.04.1

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
aliasesEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2017-1000255 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.5) in Linux Kernel, published October 9, 2017. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.38%, the 32nd percentile. Fixed in linux 4.13.4-2.

References

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