CVE-2003-0961
Integer overflow in the do_brk function for the brk system call in Linux kernel 2.4.22 and earlier allows local users to gain root…
- 7.2HighCVSS base score
- 3.9%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 9.6% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 2Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
Integer overflow in the do_brk function for the brk system call in Linux kernel 2.4.22 and earlier allows local users to gain root privileges.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list 2 Exploit-DB entries for it.
Show the exploits2
Exploit-DB2 entries
- Linux Kernel 2.4.22 - 'do_brk()' Local Privilege Escalation (2) (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 131local, linuxpublished 5 Dec 2003Verified
- Linux Kernel 2.4.22 - 'do_brk()' Local Privilege Escalation (1) (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 129local, linuxpublished 2 Dec 2003Verified
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By mitre
- 6 days later
· 6 days later
Published
- 21 years later
· 21 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Modified | 2.0 | High7.2 | AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 3.9% · top 9.6% of all CVEs (10 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.2.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
25
- 20031204 Hot fix for do_brk bug (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQx_transferred
- 10330 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIAx_transferred
- DSA-433 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANx_transferred
- DSA-423 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANx_transferred
- VU#301156 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_CERT-VNx_transferred
- SuSE-SA:2003:049 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_SUSEx_transferred
- DSA-450 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANx_transferred
- RHSA-2003:389 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHATx_transferred
- DSA-440 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANx_transferred
- MDKSA-2003:110 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_MANDRAKEx_transferred
- 20040112 SmoothWall Project Security Advisory SWP-2004:001 (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQx_transferred
- CLA-2003:796 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_CONECTIVAx_transferred
- RHSA-2003:368 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHATx_transferred
- 10328 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIAx_transferred
- 10329 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIAx_transferred
- DSA-439 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANx_transferred
- DSA-475 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANx_transferred
- 10338 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIAx_transferred
- 10333 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIAx_transferred
- 20031204 [iSEC] Linux kernel do_brk() vulnerability details (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQx_transferred
- DSA-417 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANx_transferred
- DSA-403 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANx_transferred
- http://isec.pl/papers/linux_kernel_do_brk.pdf (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- DSA-442 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANx_transferred
- DSA-470 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2003-0951 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2003-0961)Record last updated .