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Medium

NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel econet_sendmsg

IdentifiersCVE-2010-3849CWE-476· NULL Pointer Dereference

CVE-2010-3849 is a local denial-of-service vulnerability in the Linux kernel's Econet protocol implementation, specifically in the econet_sendmsg function in net/econet/af_econet.c. In Linux kernel versions before 2.6.36.2, when an Econet address is configured, a local user can invoke sendmsg with a NULL remote address field, which is not properly handled by the kernel. This results in a NULL pointer dereference and kernel OOPS.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation allows a local user to crash the kernel path handling the malformed sendmsg request, causing a denial of service. The described impact in the provided content is limited to a NULL pointer dereference and OOPS; no privilege escalation or code execution is indicated by the supplied information.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

If immediate patching is not possible, reduce exposure by disabling or avoiding use of the Econet protocol and preventing untrusted local users from accessing affected systems. Limiting local shell access mitigates the stated exploitation path, which requires local user interaction.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade the Linux kernel to version 2.6.36.2 or later, where the issue is fixed. Systems running affected pre-2.6.36.2 kernels with Econet support should be updated to a patched kernel release.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No valid public exploits. Mallory filtered out 1 candidate as fakes, detection scripts, or README-only repos.

VALID 0 / 1 TOTALView more in app

All candidate exploits were filtered out by Mallory's validation.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType
CanonicalUbuntu Linuxapplication
DebianDebian Linuxoperating_system
LinuxLinux Kerneloperating_system
SuseLinux Enterprise Desktopoperating_system
SuseLinux Enterprise Real Time Extensionoperating_system
SuseLinux Enterprise Serveroperating_system
SuseLinux Enterprise Software Development Kitoperating_system

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What this page doesn’t show

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Exposure mapping

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Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware1

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

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Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity3

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.