In 2017, 215 Linux kernel CVEs were published, sourced from the NIST National Vulnerability Database. Of these, 6 were rated Critical, 113 High severity , and 1 was confirmed as actively exploited in the wild (CISA KEV) . Compared to 2016's 189 CVEs, 2017 represented an increase of 14% year-on-year. November was the most active month, with 34 CVEs published.
Monthly CVE Breakdown — 2017
CVEs published per month with severity breakdown
November (34) was the most active month in 2017. Together the top months account for a significant share of 2017's 215 total CVEs. January (3) had the lowest volume.
Severity Distribution — 2017
Breakdown across 215 CVEs
44% Medium · 53% High · 3% Critical.
Monthly Counts — 2017
CVE counts by month and severity
November was the most active month with 34 CVEs — 16% of 2017's total. January (3) had the lowest volume.
| Month | Total | Critical | High | Medium | Low | Share of year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
1%
|
| February | 26 | 1 | 15 | 10 | 0 |
12%
|
| March | 20 | 1 | 13 | 6 | 0 |
9%
|
| April | 27 | 2 | 18 | 7 | 0 |
13%
|
| May | 17 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 0 |
8%
|
| June | 10 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
5%
|
| July | 10 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
5%
|
| August | 12 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
6%
|
| September | 15 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 0 |
7%
|
| October | 15 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 0 |
7%
|
| November | 34 | 0 | 7 | 27 | 0 |
16%
|
| December | 26 | 0 | 18 | 6 | 2 |
12%
|
| Total | 215 | 6 | 113 | 94 | 2 |
Actively exploited CVEs — 2017
1 CVE confirmed in CISA KEV catalog
All CVEs — 2017
215 CVEs
| CVE ID | Package | Severity | CVSS | Published | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2017-13715 | linux | Critical | 9.8 | 2017-08-29 | The __skb_flow_dissect function in net/core/flow_dissector.c in the Linux kernel before 4.3 does not ensure that n_prot… | |
| CVE-2017-12762 | linux | Critical | 9.8 | 2017-08-09 | In /drivers/isdn/i4l/isdn_net.c: A user-controlled buffer is copied into a local buffer of constant size using strcpy w… | |
| CVE-2017-7895 | linux | Critical | 9.8 | 2017-04-28 | The NFSv2 and NFSv3 server implementations in the Linux kernel through 4.10.13 lack certain checks for the end of a buf… | |
| CVE-2016-10229 | linux | Critical | 9.8 | 2017-04-04 | udp.c in the Linux kernel before 4.5 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via UDP traffic that triggers an… | |
| CVE-2017-5897 | linux | Critical | 9.8 | 2017-03-23 | The ip6gre_err function in net/ipv6/ip6_gre.c in the Linux kernel allows remote attackers to have unspecified impact vi… | |
| CVE-2016-10150 | linux | Critical | 9.8 | 2017-02-06 | Use-after-free vulnerability in the kvm_ioctl_create_device function in virt/kvm/kvm_main.c in the Linux kernel before … | |
| CVE-2017-2583 | linux | High | 8.4 | 2017-02-06 | The load_segment_descriptor implementation in arch/x86/kvm/emulate.c in the Linux kernel before 4.9.5 improperly emulat… | |
| CVE-2017-1000251 | linux | High | 8.0 | 2017-09-12 | The native Bluetooth stack in the Linux Kernel (BlueZ), starting at the Linux kernel version 2.6.32 and up to and inclu… | |
| CVE-2017-17863 | linux | High | 7.8 | 2017-12-27 | kernel/bpf/verifier.c in the Linux kernel 4.9.x through 4.9.71 does not check the relationship between pointer values a… | |
| CVE-2017-16995 | linux | High | 7.8 | 2017-12-27 | The check_alu_op function in kernel/bpf/verifier.c in the Linux kernel through 4.4 allows local users to cause a denial… |
2017 Linux Kernel CVE Highlights
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Monthly variation
CVE publication in 2017 was uneven across months. November was the most active with 34 CVEs. January (3) had the lowest volume. Monthly spikes typically correspond to coordinated batches of backfilled CVEs being processed at once.