CVE-2005-2709 Use after free in n/a

What is CVE-2005-2709?

CVE-2005-2709 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 20 Nov 2005. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

The sysctl functionality (sysctl.c) in Linux kernel before 2.6.14.1 allows local users to cause a denial of service (kernel oops) and possibly execute code by opening an interface file in /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/, waiting until the interface is unregistered, then obtaining and modifying function pointers in memory that was used for the ctl_table.

Weakness: CWE-399

Which versions are affected by CVE-2005-2709?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2005-2709?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.

Is CVE-2005-2709 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2005-2709 exists.

Public exploit code: 1 Exploit-DB entry.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

• CVE-2026-53266 Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2013-6282 Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2022-0185 Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2013-2094 Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2026-53362 Linux Kernel Unspecified Exploited High 7.8

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as GHSA-99j2-m6h7-666q.