CVE-2019-19060

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2019-19060?

CVE-2019-19060 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (HIGH). This vulnerability is a memory leak in the Linux kernel's ADIS IMU driver that allows attackers to cause denial of service by consuming all available memory. It affects Linux systems using the affected driver before kernel version 5.3.9. The vulnerability requires local access to exploit.

7.5 HIGH

Denial of Service

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability is a memory leak in the Linux kernel's ADIS IMU driver that allows attackers to cause denial of service by consuming all available memory. It affects Linux systems using the affected driver before kernel version 5.3.9. The vulnerability requires local access to exploit.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Linux kernel

Versions: Linux kernel versions before 5.3.9

Operating Systems: Linux distributions using affected kernel versions

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Only affects systems using the ADIS IMU driver (drivers/iio/imu/adis*). Many embedded/IoT systems use this driver for inertial measurement units.

📦 What is this software?

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

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Steelstore Cloud Integrated Storage by Netapp

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Ubuntu Linux by Canonical

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⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Complete system unavailability due to memory exhaustion, requiring hard reboot and potential data loss.

🟠

Likely Case

Degraded system performance leading to application failures and service disruption.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact with proper memory monitoring and process isolation in place.

🌐 Internet-Facing: LOW - Requires local access to exploit, not remotely exploitable.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Local attackers or malicious processes could cause denial of service.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: LOW

Exploitation requires local access and ability to trigger the vulnerable function repeatedly. No public exploit code has been documented.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Linux kernel 5.3.9 and later

Vendor Advisory: https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.3.9

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Update Linux kernel to version 5.3.9 or later. 2. For distributions: Use package manager (apt/yum/dnf) to update kernel package. 3. Reboot system to load new kernel.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable ADIS IMU driver

linux

Prevent loading of vulnerable driver module

echo 'blacklist adis' >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
rmmod adis

Memory usage monitoring

linux

Monitor memory consumption and restart affected processes

# Set up monitoring with tools like atop, htop, or custom scripts

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement strict access controls to limit who can access devices using ADIS IMU driver
Deploy memory monitoring and alerting to detect memory exhaustion patterns

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check kernel version: uname -r. If version is < 5.3.9 and ADIS driver is loaded (lsmod | grep adis), system is vulnerable.

Check Version:

uname -r

Verify Fix Applied:

After update, verify kernel version is ≥ 5.3.9 with uname -r and check commit ab612b1daf41 is included.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Kernel OOM (Out of Memory) messages in /var/log/kern.log or dmesg
Rapid memory consumption by kernel processes

Network Indicators:

None - local vulnerability only

SIEM Query:

source="kernel" AND ("out of memory" OR "oom") AND process="adis"

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2019-19060

CVSS v3 Score: 7.5 (HIGH)

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

CWE: CWE-401

Published: November 18, 2019

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-12/msg00029.html Third Party Advisory
https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.3.9 Release Notes,Vendor Advisory
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/ab612b1daf415b62c58e130cb3d0f30b255a14d0 Patch,Third Party Advisory
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20191205-0001/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4208-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4210-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4226-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4364-1/ Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-12/msg00029.html Third Party Advisory
https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.3.9 Release Notes,Vendor Advisory
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/ab612b1daf415b62c58e130cb3d0f30b255a14d0 Patch,Third Party Advisory
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20191205-0001/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4208-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4210-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4226-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4364-1/ Third Party Advisory

📋 TL;DR

💻 Affected Systems

📦 What is this software?

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Fas\/aff Baseboard Management Controller by Netapp

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Hci Compute Node Firmware by Netapp

Leap by Opensuse

Linux Kernel by Linux

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Solidfire \& Hci Management Node by Netapp

Solidfire Baseboard Management Controller Firmware by Netapp

Solidfire\, Enterprise Sds \& Hci Storage Node by Netapp

Steelstore Cloud Integrated Storage by Netapp

Ubuntu Linux by Canonical

Ubuntu Linux by Canonical

Ubuntu Linux by Canonical

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⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

Worst Case

Likely Case

If Mitigated

🎯 Exploit Status

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Instructions:

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable ADIS IMU driver

Memory usage monitoring

🧯 If You Can't Patch

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Version:

Verify Fix Applied:

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Network Indicators:

SIEM Query:

📊 Metadata

🔗 References

📤 Share & Export

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