# CVE-2010-4161: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause a system hang in the Linux kernel by sending UDP traffic to a socket with a crafted filter, requiring specific socket configurations.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.9 (`AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 30 Dec 2010
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jch4-5383-w2vq

## What is CVE-2010-4161?

CVE-2010-4161 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 30 Dec 2010. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The udp_queue_rcv_skb function in net/ipv4/udp.c in a certain Red Hat build of the Linux kernel 2.6.18 in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (deadlock and system hang) by sending UDP traffic to a socket that has a crafted socket filter, a related issue to CVE-2010-4158.

Weakness: CWE-399

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2010-4161?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Linux kernel, Redhat Enterprise Linux.

## How do I fix CVE-2010-4161?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2010-4161 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2010-4161 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2010-4161 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2010-4161 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 30 Dec 2010. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2010-4161 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-4161/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-4161/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2010-4161
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2010-4161
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2010-4161

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-4161/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.