kernel CVE Vulnerabilities & Metrics

Focus on kernel vulnerabilities and metrics.

Last updated: 08 Mar 2025, 23:25 UTC

About kernel Security Exposure

This page consolidates all known Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) associated with kernel. We track both calendar-based metrics (using fixed periods) and rolling metrics (using gliding windows) to give you a comprehensive view of security trends and risk evolution. Use these insights to assess risk and plan your patching strategy.

For a broader perspective on cybersecurity threats, explore the comprehensive list of CVEs by vendor and product. Stay updated on critical vulnerabilities affecting major software and hardware providers.

Global CVE Overview

Total kernel CVEs: 13
Earliest CVE date: 31 Dec 2001, 05:00 UTC
Latest CVE date: 22 Aug 2023, 19:16 UTC

Latest CVE reference: CVE-2020-21583

Rolling Stats

30-day Count (Rolling): 0
365-day Count (Rolling): 0

Calendar-based Variation

Calendar-based Variation compares a fixed calendar period (e.g., this month versus the same month last year), while Rolling Growth Rate uses a continuous window (e.g., last 30 days versus the previous 30 days) to capture trends independent of calendar boundaries.

Variations & Growth

Month Variation (Calendar): 0%
Year Variation (Calendar): -100.0%

Month Growth Rate (30-day Rolling): 0.0%
Year Growth Rate (365-day Rolling): -100.0%

Monthly CVE Trends (current vs previous Year)

Annual CVE Trends (Last 20 Years)

Critical kernel CVEs (CVSS ≥ 9) Over 20 Years

CVSS Stats

Average CVSS: 4.07

Max CVSS: 9.3

Critical CVEs (≥9): 1

CVSS Range vs. Count

Range Count
0.0-3.9 9
4.0-6.9 3
7.0-8.9 5
9.0-10.0 1

CVSS Distribution Chart

Top 5 Highest CVSS kernel CVEs

These are the five CVEs with the highest CVSS scores for kernel, sorted by severity first and recency.

All CVEs for kernel

CVE-2020-21583 kernel vulnerability CVSS: 0 22 Aug 2023, 19:16 UTC

An issue was discovered in hwclock.13-v2.27 allows attackers to gain escalated privlidges or execute arbitrary commands via the path parameter when setting the date.

CVE-2021-3996 kernel vulnerability CVSS: 0 23 Aug 2022, 20:15 UTC

A logic error was found in the libmount library of util-linux in the function that allows an unprivileged user to unmount a FUSE filesystem. This flaw allows a local user on a vulnerable system to unmount other users' filesystems that are either world-writable themselves (like /tmp) or mounted in a world-writable directory. An attacker may use this flaw to cause a denial of service to applications that use the affected filesystems.

CVE-2021-3995 kernel vulnerability CVSS: 0 23 Aug 2022, 20:15 UTC

A logic error was found in the libmount library of util-linux in the function that allows an unprivileged user to unmount a FUSE filesystem. This flaw allows an unprivileged local attacker to unmount FUSE filesystems that belong to certain other users who have a UID that is a prefix of the UID of the attacker in its string form. An attacker may use this flaw to cause a denial of service to applications that use the affected filesystems.

CVE-2022-0563 kernel vulnerability CVSS: 1.9 21 Feb 2022, 19:15 UTC

A flaw was found in the util-linux chfn and chsh utilities when compiled with Readline support. The Readline library uses an "INPUTRC" environment variable to get a path to the library config file. When the library cannot parse the specified file, it prints an error message containing data from the file. This flaw allows an unprivileged user to read root-owned files, potentially leading to privilege escalation. This flaw affects util-linux versions prior to 2.37.4.

CVE-2021-37600 kernel vulnerability CVSS: 1.2 30 Jul 2021, 14:15 UTC

An integer overflow in util-linux through 2.37.1 can potentially cause a buffer overflow if an attacker were able to use system resources in a way that leads to a large number in the /proc/sysvipc/sem file. NOTE: this is unexploitable in GNU C Library environments, and possibly in all realistic environments.

CVE-2020-10751 kernel vulnerability CVSS: 3.6 26 May 2020, 15:15 UTC

A flaw was found in the Linux kernels SELinux LSM hook implementation before version 5.7, where it incorrectly assumed that an skb would only contain a single netlink message. The hook would incorrectly only validate the first netlink message in the skb and allow or deny the rest of the messages within the skb with the granted permission without further processing.

CVE-2018-17953 kernel vulnerability CVSS: 9.3 27 Nov 2018, 13:29 UTC

A incorrect variable in a SUSE specific patch for pam_access rule matching in PAM 1.3.0 in openSUSE Leap 15.0 and SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 could lead to pam_access rules not being applied (fail open).

CVE-2018-7738 kernel vulnerability CVSS: 7.2 07 Mar 2018, 02:29 UTC

In util-linux before 2.32-rc1, bash-completion/umount allows local users to gain privileges by embedding shell commands in a mountpoint name, which is mishandled during a umount command (within Bash) by a different user, as demonstrated by logging in as root and entering umount followed by a tab character for autocompletion.

CVE-2015-5224 kernel vulnerability CVSS: 7.5 23 Aug 2017, 15:29 UTC

The mkostemp function in login-utils in util-linux when used incorrectly allows remote attackers to cause file name collision and possibly other attacks.

CVE-2016-5011 kernel vulnerability CVSS: 4.9 11 Apr 2017, 15:59 UTC

The parse_dos_extended function in partitions/dos.c in the libblkid library in util-linux allows physically proximate attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via a crafted MSDOS partition table with an extended partition boot record at zero offset.

CVE-2014-9114 kernel vulnerability CVSS: 7.2 31 Mar 2017, 16:59 UTC

Blkid in util-linux before 2.26rc-1 allows local users to execute arbitrary code.

CVE-2016-2779 kernel vulnerability CVSS: 7.2 07 Feb 2017, 15:59 UTC

runuser in util-linux allows local users to escape to the parent session via a crafted TIOCSTI ioctl call, which pushes characters to the terminal's input buffer.

CVE-2015-5218 kernel vulnerability CVSS: 2.1 09 Nov 2015, 16:59 UTC

Buffer overflow in text-utils/colcrt.c in colcrt in util-linux before 2.27 allows local users to cause a denial of service (crash) via a crafted file, related to the page global variable.

CVE-2013-0157 kernel vulnerability CVSS: 2.1 21 Jan 2014, 18:55 UTC

(a) mount and (b) umount in util-linux 2.14.1, 2.17.2, and probably other versions allow local users to determine the existence of restricted directories by (1) using the --guess-fstype command-line option or (2) attempting to mount a non-existent device, which generates different error messages depending on whether the directory exists.

CVE-2009-3288 kernel vulnerability CVSS: 4.9 22 Sep 2009, 10:30 UTC

The sg_build_indirect function in drivers/scsi/sg.c in Linux kernel 2.6.28-rc1 through 2.6.31-rc8 uses an incorrect variable when accessing an array, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (kernel OOPS and NULL pointer dereference), as demonstrated by using xcdroast to duplicate a CD. NOTE: this is only exploitable by users who can open the cdrom device.

CVE-2007-6712 kernel vulnerability CVSS: 4.9 12 Apr 2008, 19:05 UTC

Integer overflow in the hrtimer_forward function (hrtimer.c) in Linux kernel 2.6.21-rc4, when running on 64-bit systems, allows local users to cause a denial of service (infinite loop) via a timer with a large expiry value, which causes the timer to always be expired.

CVE-2007-5191 kernel vulnerability CVSS: 7.2 04 Oct 2007, 16:17 UTC

mount and umount in util-linux and loop-aes-utils call the setuid and setgid functions in the wrong order and do not check the return values, which might allow attackers to gain privileges via helpers such as mount.nfs.

CVE-2001-1494 kernel vulnerability CVSS: 2.1 31 Dec 2001, 05:00 UTC

script command in the util-linux package before 2.11n allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files by setting a hardlink from the typescript log file to any file on the system, then having root execute the script command.