{"id":"CVE-2017-16994","url":"https://www.cyber-defence.io/tools/cve/CVE-2017-16994","generatedAt":"2026-10-28T19:05:09.864Z","title":"The walk_hugetlb_range function in mm/pagewalk.c in the Linux kernel before 4.14.2 mishandles holes in hugetlb ranges, which allows local users to obtain sensitive information from uninitialized kernel memory via crafted use of the mincore() system call.","description":"The walk_hugetlb_range function in mm/pagewalk.c in the Linux kernel before 4.14.2 mishandles holes in hugetlb ranges, which allows local users to obtain sensitive information from uninitialized kernel memory via crafted use of the mincore() system call.","published":"2017-11-27T19:29:00.000Z","lastModified":"2026-06-17T01:10:14.000Z","status":"Modified","sourceIdentifier":"cve@mitre.org","cvss":{"version":"3.0","score":5.5,"severity":"MEDIUM","vector":"CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N"},"cwe":["CWE-200"],"affected":["linux/linux kernel"],"epss":{"score":0.02084,"percentile":0.81463,"date":"2026-10-27","history":[]},"kev":{"listed":false},"exploits":{"count":3,"verified":true,"firstPublished":"2017-11-24","source":"Exploit-DB (https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb)","entries":[{"edbId":44304,"kind":"exploit","title":"Linux Kernel - 'mincore()' Heap Page Disclosure (PoC)","url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44304","sourceUrl":"https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb/-/blob/main/exploits/linux/dos/44304.c","file":"exploits/linux/dos/44304.c","published":"2017-12-11","added":"2018-03-19","updated":"2018-03-19","author":"anonymous","type":"dos","platform":"linux","port":null,"verified":false,"codes":["CVE-2017-16994"],"tags":null,"aliases":null,"applicationUrl":null,"screenshotUrl":null,"referenceUrl":"https://github.com/hardenedlinux/offensive_poc/blob/99c6b0b540d5550d757315aa0cb8f8edf0c41e2f/CVE-2017-16994/mincore.c"},{"edbId":44303,"kind":"exploit","title":"Linux Kernel 4.13 (Debian 9) - Local Privilege Escalation","url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44303","sourceUrl":"https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb/-/blob/main/exploits/linux/local/44303.c","file":"exploits/linux/local/44303.c","published":"2017-12-11","added":"2018-03-19","updated":"2018-03-19","author":"anonymous","type":"local","platform":"linux","port":null,"verified":false,"codes":["CVE-2017-16994"],"tags":null,"aliases":null,"applicationUrl":null,"screenshotUrl":null,"referenceUrl":"https://github.com/hardenedlinux/offensive_poc/tree/99c6b0b540d5550d757315aa0cb8f8edf0c41e2f/CVE-2017-5123"},{"edbId":43178,"kind":"exploit","title":"Linux Kernel - 'mincore()' Uninitialized Kernel Heap Page Disclosure","url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43178","sourceUrl":"https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb/-/blob/main/exploits/linux/dos/43178.c","file":"exploits/linux/dos/43178.c","published":"2017-11-24","added":"2017-11-24","updated":"2018-04-13","author":"Google Security Research","type":"dos","platform":"linux","port":null,"verified":true,"codes":["CVE-2017-16994"],"tags":null,"aliases":null,"applicationUrl":null,"screenshotUrl":null,"referenceUrl":"https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=1431"}]},"verdict":{"level":"high","text":"3 public exploits are published in Exploit-DB (verified), so the technical barrier is gone even though the severity is medium and EPSS is 2.1%. Treat it as high on anything reachable from the internet."},"changes":[],"references":[{"url":"http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=373c4557d2aa362702c4c2d41288fb1e54990b7c","tags":["Patch"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v4.x/ChangeLog-4.14.2","tags":["Release Notes"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101969","tags":["Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:0502","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=1431","tags":["Exploit","Issue Tracking","Patch"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/373c4557d2aa362702c4c2d41288fb1e54990b7c","tags":["Patch"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://usn.ubuntu.com/3617-1/","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://usn.ubuntu.com/3617-2/","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://usn.ubuntu.com/3617-3/","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://usn.ubuntu.com/3619-1/","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://usn.ubuntu.com/3619-2/","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://usn.ubuntu.com/3632-1/","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43178/","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=373c4557d2aa362702c4c2d41288fb1e54990b7c","tags":["Patch"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v4.x/ChangeLog-4.14.2","tags":["Release Notes"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101969","tags":["Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:0502","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=1431","tags":["Exploit","Issue Tracking","Patch"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/373c4557d2aa362702c4c2d41288fb1e54990b7c","tags":["Patch"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://usn.ubuntu.com/3617-1/","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://usn.ubuntu.com/3617-2/","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://usn.ubuntu.com/3617-3/","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://usn.ubuntu.com/3619-1/","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://usn.ubuntu.com/3619-2/","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://usn.ubuntu.com/3632-1/","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43178/","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"}],"sources":{"nvd":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16994","epss":"https://www.first.org/epss/","kev":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","exploitdb":"https://www.exploit-db.com/"},"licence":"CC BY 4.0 — link back to the CVE Explorer if you publish the results; upstream data remains subject to its own terms."}