CVE-2009-3621

MEDIUM

Linux Kernel < 2.6.31.4 - Denial of Service via Abstract-Namespace AF_UNIX Socket

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

EIP tracks 1 public exploit for CVE-2009-3621. PoCs published by Tomoki Sekiyama.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This exploit targets a local denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability in the Linux kernel's handling of abstract Unix domain sockets. It creates a listening socket, shuts it down, and then repeatedly attempts to connect to it, causing a kernel panic or hang.

Description

net/unix/af_unix.c in the Linux kernel 2.6.31.4 and earlier allows local users to cause a denial of service (system hang) by creating an abstract-namespace AF_UNIX listening socket, performing a shutdown operation on this socket, and then performing a series of connect operations to this socket.

Exploits (1)

exploitdb WORKING POC VERIFIED
by Tomoki Sekiyama · cdoslinux
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/10022

This exploit targets a local denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability in the Linux kernel's handling of abstract Unix domain sockets. It creates a listening socket, shuts it down, and then repeatedly attempts to connect to it, causing a kernel panic or hang.

Classification
Working Poc 90%
Attack Type
Dos
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Linux kernel (versions affected by CVE-2009-3621)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Local access to the target system · Ability to create Unix domain sockets
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →

References (26)

Core 26
Core References
Exploit, Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory mailing-list x_refsource_mlist
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2009/10/19/2
Exploit, Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_confirm
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=529626
Mailing List, Third Party Advisory mailing-list x_refsource_mlist
http://lkml.org/lkml/2009/10/19/50
Broken Link vendor-advisory x_refsource_redhat
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2009-1671.html
Exploit, Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory mailing-list x_refsource_mlist
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2009/10/19/4
Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_redhat
https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2009-1540.html
Mailing List, Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_suse
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2009-12/msg00002.html
Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_ubuntu
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-864-1
Broken Link third-party-advisory x_refsource_secunia
http://secunia.com/advisories/38794
Mailing List, Third Party Advisory mailing-list x_refsource_mlist
http://lists.vmware.com/pipermail/security-announce/2010/000082.html
Mailing List, Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_suse
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2010-01/msg00000.html
Broken Link vendor-advisory x_refsource_mandriva
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2009:329
Mailing List, Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_suse
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2010-02/msg00005.html
Broken Link third-party-advisory x_refsource_secunia
http://secunia.com/advisories/37909
Exploit, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_confirm
http://patchwork.kernel.org/patch/54678/
Broken Link vendor-advisory x_refsource_redhat
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2009-1670.html
Mailing List, Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_suse
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2009-12/msg00005.html
Broken Link third-party-advisory x_refsource_secunia
http://secunia.com/advisories/38834
Mailing List, Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_suse
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2010-02/msg00007.html
Broken Link third-party-advisory x_refsource_secunia
http://secunia.com/advisories/37086
Broken Link third-party-advisory x_refsource_secunia
http://secunia.com/advisories/38017
Mailing List, Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_fedora
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-November/msg00190.html
Broken Link vdb-entry x_refsource_vupen
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2010/0528

Scores

CVSS v3 5.5
EPSS 0.0099
EPSS Percentile 57.8%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Details

CWE
CWE-400
Status published
Products (13)
canonical/ubuntu_linux 6.06
canonical/ubuntu_linux 8.04
canonical/ubuntu_linux 8.10
canonical/ubuntu_linux 9.04
canonical/ubuntu_linux 9.10
fedoraproject/fedora 10
linux/linux_kernel < 2.6.31.4
opensuse/opensuse 11.0
opensuse/opensuse 11.2
suse/suse_linux_enterprise_desktop 10 sp2 (2 CPE variants)
... and 3 more
Published Oct 22, 2009
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026