CVE-2011-2189

HIGH

Linux Kernel < 2.6.32 - Denial of Service via Network Namespace Creation

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

EIP tracks 1 public exploit for CVE-2011-2189. PoCs published by Serge Hallyn.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This exploit demonstrates a remote denial-of-service vulnerability in the Linux kernel by triggering an out-of-memory error. It uses a script named 'feedftp' to exhaust system resources, affecting Linux kernel versions 2.6.35 and earlier.

Description

net/core/net_namespace.c in the Linux kernel 2.6.32 and earlier does not properly handle a high rate of creation and cleanup of network namespaces, which makes it easier for remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via requests to a daemon that requires a separate namespace per connection, as demonstrated by vsftpd.

Exploits (1)

exploitdb WORKING POC VERIFIED
by Serge Hallyn · textdoslinux
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/36425

This exploit demonstrates a remote denial-of-service vulnerability in the Linux kernel by triggering an out-of-memory error. It uses a script named 'feedftp' to exhaust system resources, affecting Linux kernel versions 2.6.35 and earlier.

Classification
Working Poc 90%
Attack Type
Dos
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Linux kernel versions 2.6.35 and earlier
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Access to execute scripts on the target system
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →

References (14)

Core 14
Core References
Exploit, Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_confirm
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=711245
Exploit, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_confirm
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/720095
Mailing List, Third Party Advisory mailing-list x_refsource_mlist
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/06/06/20
Mailing List, Third Party Advisory mailing-list x_refsource_mlist
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/06/06/10
Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_debian
http://www.debian.org/security/2011/dsa-2305
Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_confirm
http://patchwork.ozlabs.org/patch/88217/
Broken Link mailing-list x_refsource_mlist
http://kerneltrap.org/mailarchive/git-commits-head/2009/12/8/15289
Exploit, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_confirm
http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=629373
Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_ubuntu
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1288-1
Exploit, Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_confirm
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=711134

Scores

CVSS v3 7.5
EPSS 0.1784
EPSS Percentile 96.8%
Attack Vector NETWORK
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Details

CWE
CWE-400
Status published
Products (10)
canonical/ubuntu_linux 10.04
canonical/ubuntu_linux 10.10
canonical/ubuntu_linux 11.04
canonical/ubuntu_linux 11.10
debian/debian_linux 5.0
debian/debian_linux 6.0
debian/debian_linux 7.0
linux/linux_kernel < 2.6.32
redhat/enterprise_linux 6.0
redhat/enterprise_mrg 2.0
Published Oct 10, 2011
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026