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CVE-2015-8539

20
FAUCET Score

CVE-2015-8539 is a privilege escalation and denial-of-service vulnerability affecting the Linux kernel's KEYS subsystem, specifically versions prior to 4.4, across various distributions including Canonical, SUSE, and generic Linux. It allows local attackers to gain privileges or cause a system crash through crafted keyctl commands that negatively instantiate a key. With a CVSS score of 7.8 (High), this vulnerability has a low attack complexity and requires local access, but can lead to high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. There is no evidence of active exploitation, public exploit code (Metasploit, Nuclei, ExploitDB), or significant community discussion or media coverage.

Impacted Technologies

VendorProductVersion(s)CPE
12.04CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:12.04:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
14.04CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*
12CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_real_time_extension:12:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
< 4.4CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
4.4CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:4.4:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*

CVSS Data

CVSS version used by this source: 3.1

7.8HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact
HIGH
Integrity Impact
HIGH
Availability Impact
HIGH
Exploitability Score
1.8
Impact Score
5.9
CvssVersion
3.1

Exploit Intelligence

EPSS Score
0.42%
Probability of exploitation in next 30 days
EPSS Percentile
34.7%
Percentile rank of EPSS score among Peer Group
As of 2026-07-27
Model: v2026.06.15
This CVE's current EPSS score of 0.0042 is in the 75th percentile among its peer group of 17,070 CVEs.

Social Chatter

No social media mentions found for this CVE.

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.0 Twitter, 0.1 Reddit, 0.2 Bluesky, 0.1 Mastodon, and 0.2 GitHub mentions.

Media Mentions

No media coverage found for this CVE.

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.3 InfoSec Media, 0.0 Vendor Blog, and 0.0 Security Researcher mentions.

Remediation

Patch Available

Vendor Patches (4)

github_advisorypatch availablevia nvd_reference
View patch
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7Fixed in: kernel-rt-0:3.10.0-693.17.1.rt56.636.el7
View patch
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7Fixed in: kernel-0:3.10.0-693.17.1.el7
View patch
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2Fixed in: kernel-rt-1:3.10.0-693.17.1.rt56.604.el6rt
View patch

Vendor Advisories (1)

redhatCVE-2015-8539Important

kernel: local privesc in key management

Dec 9, 2015

References

git.kernel.org / cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit
Vendor Advisory
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-02/msg00007.html
Third Party Advisory
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-02/msg00008.html
Third Party Advisory
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-02/msg00009.html
Third Party Advisory
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-02/msg00011.html
Third Party Advisory
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-02/msg00017.html
Third Party Advisory
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-02/msg00018.html
Third Party Advisory
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-02/msg00019.html
Third Party Advisory
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-02/msg00020.html
Third Party Advisory
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-02/msg00021.html
Third Party Advisory
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-02/msg00022.html
Third Party Advisory
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-02/msg00034.html
Third Party Advisory
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-03/msg00094.html
Third Party Advisory
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-04/msg00045.html
Third Party Advisory
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-08/msg00000.html
Third Party Advisory
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-08/msg00038.html
Third Party Advisory
access.redhat.com / errata/RHSA-2018:0151
Third Party Advisory
access.redhat.com / errata/RHSA-2018:0152
Third Party Advisory
access.redhat.com / errata/RHSA-2018:0181
Third Party Advisory
bugzilla.redhat.com / show_bug.cgi
Issue TrackingThird Party Advisory
github.com / torvalds/linux/commit/096fe9eaea40a17e125569f9e657e34cdb6d73bd
Issue TrackingPatchVendor Advisory
usn.ubuntu.com / 3798-1
Third Party Advisory
usn.ubuntu.com / 3798-2
Third Party Advisory
openwall.com / lists/oss-security/2015/12/09/1
Issue TrackingMailing ListPatchThird Party Advisory