CVE-2011-4080 Security feature bypass in n/a

What is CVE-2011-4080?

CVE-2011-4080 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 May 2012. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

The sysrq_sysctl_handler function in kernel/sysctl.c in the Linux kernel before 2.6.39 does not require the CAP_SYS_ADMIN capability to modify the dmesg_restrict value, which allows local users to bypass intended access restrictions and read the kernel ring buffer by leveraging root privileges, as demonstrated by a root user in a Linux Containers (aka LXC) environment.

Weakness: CWE-264

Which versions are affected by CVE-2011-4080?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2011-4080?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

Is CVE-2011-4080 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2011-4080 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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-j72v-r3gf-6w7r.