CVE-2012-6704 Memory corruption in n/a

What is CVE-2012-6704?

CVE-2012-6704 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 28 Dec 2016. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

The sock_setsockopt function in net/core/sock.c in the Linux kernel before 3.5 mishandles negative values of sk_sndbuf and sk_rcvbuf, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (memory corruption and system crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact by leveraging the CAP_NET_ADMIN capability for a crafted setsockopt system call with the (1) SO_SNDBUF or (2) SO_RCVBUF option.

Weakness: CWE-119

Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-6704?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2012-6704?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.

Is CVE-2012-6704 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-6704 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 DEBIAN-CVE-2012-6704, GHSA-xqxm-8fx9-rwr3.