kernel: NULL pointer dereference due to race condition in probe function of legousbtower driver
Published Nov 15, 2017
6.3
MEDIUMCVSS 3.0
EPSS 0.39%
Description
The tower_probe function in drivers/usb/misc/legousbtower.c in the Linux kernel before 4.8.1 allows local users (who are physically proximate for inserting a crafted USB device) to gain privileges by leveraging a write-what-where condition that occurs after a race condition and a NULL pointer dereference.
Affected products
- Vendor n/a Product Linux kernel through version 4.9-rc1 Defaultn/a
- Version Linux kernel through version 4.9-rc1StatusaffectedConstraints-
- Version
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n/a | Linux kernel through version 4.9-rc1 | n/a |
|
Configuration 1
- < 4.8.1
Configuration 2
- 5.0
- 6.0
Configuration 3
- 12.04
- 14.04
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
kernel
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
kernel
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
kernel
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
kernel-alt
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
kernel-rt
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2
realtime-kernel
Not affected
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | kernel | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | kernel | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | kernel | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | kernel-alt | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | kernel-rt | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2 | realtime-kernel | Not affected | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat statement
This issue affects the versions of the Linux kernel as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and 6. This has been rated as having Low security impact and is not currently planned to be addressed in future updates. For additional information, refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Life Cycle: https://access.redhat.com/support/policy/updates/errata/. This issue does not affect the Linux kernel packages as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 and MRG-2, as this flaw was fixed in 7.4 release.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.1 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 1, 2026.
Score over time
2021–2026- EPSS v1
- EPSS v5
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
Percentile over time
- EPSS v1
- EPSS v5
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
Table of values (8 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 0.39% (0.00391) | 30.74th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Sep 20, 2026 | 0.39% (0.00391) | 33.03th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jul 20, 2024 | 0.04% (0.00042) | 5.06th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.04% (0.00042) | 5.63th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 1.03% (0.01034) | 41.69th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 1.03% (0.01034) | 20.32th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2022 | 0.89% (0.00888) | 25.41th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Apr 14, 2021 | 0.89% (0.00888) | 0.00th | v1 |
References (10)
- http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=2fae9e5a7babada041e2e161699ade2447a01989 x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingPatchVendor Advisory
- http://seclists.org/oss-sec/2017/q4/238 x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101790 vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-15102 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1505905 x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingPatchThird Party Advisory
- https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/2fae9e5a7babada041e2e161699ade2447a01989 x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingPatchThird Party Advisory
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-15102
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3583-1/ vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3583-2/ vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-15102
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=2fae9e5a7babada041e2e161699ade2447a01989 | x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingPatchVendor Advisory | |
| http://seclists.org/oss-sec/2017/q4/238 | x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingMailing ListThird Party Advisory | |
| http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101790 | vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry | |
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-15102 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1505905 | x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingPatchThird Party Advisory | |
| https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/2fae9e5a7babada041e2e161699ade2447a01989 | x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingPatchThird Party Advisory | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-15102 | ||
| https://usn.ubuntu.com/3583-1/ | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory | |
| https://usn.ubuntu.com/3583-2/ | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory | |
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-15102 |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.