# CVE-2012-3375: Denial of service in n/a > Local attackers can crash the system or exhaust file descriptors by exploiting a flaw in the Linux kernel's epoll_ctl handling of circular dependencies. - **Severity:** Medium 4.9 (`AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C`) - **Exploited in the wild:** Not known - **Login needed:** Any signed-in user - **Attackable:** Local or same network only - **Victim action needed:** Not needed - **Fix available:** Yes - **Published:** 3 Oct 2012 - **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024 - **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2012-3375, GHSA-6f4r-j475-m5hg, RHSA-2012:1061 ## What is CVE-2012-3375? CVE-2012-3375 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 3 Oct 2012. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim. ### Official description The epoll_ctl system call in fs/eventpoll.c in the Linux kernel before 3.2.24 does not properly handle ELOOP errors in EPOLL_CTL_ADD operations, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (file-descriptor consumption and system crash) via a crafted application that attempts to create a circular epoll dependency. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incorrect fix for CVE-2011-1083. ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-3375? It affects 1 product. | Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `kernel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-PAE` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-PAE-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-PAE-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-debug` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-debug-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-debug-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-debuginfo-common` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-doc` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-headers` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-xen` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-xen-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-xen-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-PAE` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-PAE-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-PAE-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-debug` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-debug-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-debug-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-debuginfo-common` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-doc` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-headers` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-kdump` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-kdump-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-kdump-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-xen` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-xen-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | | `kernel-xen-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.18-308.11.1.el5 | Products: Linux kernel. ## How do I fix CVE-2012-3375? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2012-3375 being exploited? It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2012-3375 exists. Public exploit code: - Linux Kernel 3.2.24 - 'fs/eventpoll.c' Local Denial of Service (exploitdb) ## 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-2012-3375 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2012-3375 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 3 Oct 2012. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim. Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2012-3375 exists. 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-2012-3375/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-3375/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-3375 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-3375 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-3375 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-3375/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.