UBUNTU-CVE-2021-31440

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    UBUNTU-CVE-2021-31440

    Published: 21 May 2021Last Modified: 4 Feb 2026
    Upstream:
    CVE-2021-31440
    Aliases:
    USN-4997-1
    USN-4997-2
    USN-4999-1

    Summary:

    Details: This vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of Linux Kernel 5.11.15. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the handling of eBPF programs. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied eBPF programs prior to executing them. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of the kernel. Was ZDI-CAN-13661.

    References: https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-31440, https://git.kernel.org/linus/10bf4e83167cc68595b85fd73bb91e8f2c086e36, https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-21-503/, https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=10bf4e83167cc68595b85fd73bb91e8f2c086e36, https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-4997-1, https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-4999-1, https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-5001-1, https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-4997-2, https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-31440

    Affected packages

    Package

    Name: linux-hwe-edge

    Purl: pkg:deb/ubuntu/[email protected]~16.04.1?arch=source&distro=xenial

    Affected ranges

    Type: ECOSYSTEM

    Events:

    Introduced- 0
    Fixed -None

    Affected versions

    4.8.0-28.30~16.04.1
    4.8.0-30.32~16.04.1
    4.8.0-32.34~16.04.1
    4.8.0-34.36~16.04.1

    Common Vulnerability Scoring System

    Attack Vector
    Network
    Adjacent
    Local
    Physical
    Privileges Required
    None
    Low
    High
    User Interaction
    None
    Required
    Scope
    Unchanged
    Changed
    Confidentiality
    None
    Low
    High
    Integrity
    None
    Low
    High
    Availability
    None
    Low
    High
    UBUNTU-CVE-2021-31440 | CVE-DB