CVE-2006-5173
Linux kernel does not properly save or restore EFLAGS during a context switch, or reset the flags when creating new threads, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (process crash), as demonstrated using a process that sets the Alignment…
Does this matter?
Lower severity and a low EPSS score (0.43%). Track it; it rarely justifies an emergency change on its own.
Description
Linux kernel does not properly save or restore EFLAGS during a context switch, or reset the flags when creating new threads, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (process crash), as demonstrated using a process that sets the Alignment Check flag (EFLAGS 0x40000), which triggers a SIGBUS in other processes that have an unaligned access.
- CVSS 2.0
- 2.1 LOWAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
- EPSS
- 0.43% probability · 38th percentile
- Public exploits
- None in Exploit-DB
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Affected
- linux/linux kernel · canonical/ubuntu linux
- Source
- cve@mitre.org
EPSS 0.4% since 26 October 2026; no change recorded yet. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
References
- http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=47a5c6fa0e204a2b63309c648bb2fde36836c826
- http://secunia.com/advisories/23361Broken Link
- http://secunia.com/advisories/23384Broken Link
- http://secunia.com/advisories/23474Broken Link
- http://secunia.com/advisories/23593Broken Link
- http://secunia.com/advisories/25691Broken Link
- http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDKSA-2007:002Broken Link
- http://www.novell.com/linux/security/advisories/2006_79_kernel.htmlBroken Link
- http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/471457Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/21851Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-395-1Third Party Advisory
- http://kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=47a5c6fa0e204a2b63309c648bb2fde36836c826
- http://secunia.com/advisories/23361Broken Link
- http://secunia.com/advisories/23384Broken Link
- http://secunia.com/advisories/23474Broken Link
- http://secunia.com/advisories/23593Broken Link
- http://secunia.com/advisories/25691Broken Link
- http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDKSA-2007:002Broken Link
- http://www.novell.com/linux/security/advisories/2006_79_kernel.htmlBroken Link
- http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/471457Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/21851Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-395-1Third Party Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.