What is CVE-2011-1478?

CVE-2011-1478 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.7 out of 10, classified as a NULL Pointer Dereference flaw (CWE-476). CVE-2011-1478 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2011-1478?

CVE-2011-1478 has a CVSS score of 5.7 out of 10, rated Medium severity. The vector string is AV:A/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2011-1478?

No patch is currently available for CVE-2011-1478. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.

Is CVE-2011-1478 actively exploited?

CVE-2011-1478 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476)?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/476.html

CVE-2011-1478

Medium

The napi_reuse_skb function in net/core/dev.c in the Generic Receive Offload (GRO) implementation in the Linux kernel before 2.6.38 does not reset the values of certain structure members, which might allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference) via a malformed VLAN frame.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2011-10-23

Last modified 2026-04-29

CVSS version 2.0

Patch available

Awaiting data

CVSS 2.0 score

5.7

out of 10

Medium

Attack Vector

Adjacent

Attack Complexity

Privileges Required

User Interaction

Scope

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

Vector string

AV:A/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C

Weakness type

CWE-476

CVE-2011-1478 is a NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability

What is NULL Pointer Dereference?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. Learn more on MITRE CWE

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2011-1478 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Mirror
http://mirror.anl.gov/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ChangeLog-2.6.38

Broken Link
Openwall
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/28/1

Mailing List Third Party Advisory
Secunia
http://secunia.com/advisories/46397

Third Party Advisory
Securityreason
http://securityreason.com/securityalert/8480

Third Party Advisory
Securityfocus
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/520102/100/0/threaded

Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
Vmware
http://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2011-0012.html

Third Party Advisory
Red Hat
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=691270

Issue Tracking Third Party Advisory
Kernel patch commit
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=66c46d741e2e60f0e8b625b80edb0ab820c46d7a
Patch
Kernel patch commit
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=6d152e23ad1a7a5b40fef1f42e017d66e6115159
Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2011-1478

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.7 / 10

CVSS version 2.0

Published 2011-10-23

Modified 2026-04-29

KEV No

Patch Awaiting data

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2011-1478?

CVE-2011-1478 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.7 out of 10 , classified as a NULL Pointer Dereference flaw (CWE-476) . CVE-2011-1478 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2011-1478?

CVE-2011-1478 has a CVSS score of 5.7 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 2.0). The vector string is AV:A/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2011-1478?

No patch is currently available for CVE-2011-1478. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.
Is CVE-2011-1478 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2011-1478 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.
What is NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476)?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. View CWE-476 on MITRE CWE →