What is CVE-2012-6638?

CVE-2012-6638 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, classified as a Uncontrolled Resource Consumption flaw (CWE-400). CVE-2012-6638 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2012-6638?

CVE-2012-6638 has a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, rated High severity. The vector string is AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2012-6638?

No patch is currently available for CVE-2012-6638. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.

Is CVE-2012-6638 actively exploited?

CVE-2012-6638 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400)?

The product does not properly control the amount of resources it consumes, leading to exhaustion. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/400.html

CVE-2012-6638

High

The tcp_rcv_state_process function in net/ipv4/tcp_input.c in the Linux kernel before 3.2.24 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (kernel resource consumption) via a flood of SYN+FIN TCP packets, a different vulnerability than CVE-2012-2663.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2014-02-15

Last modified 2026-04-29

CVSS version 2.0

Patch available

Awaiting data

CVSS 2.0 score

7.8

out of 10

High

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

User Interaction

Scope

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

None

Availability

Vector string

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

Weakness type

CWE-400

CVE-2012-6638 is a Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability

What is Uncontrolled Resource Consumption?

The product does not properly control the amount of resources it consumes, leading to exhaustion. Learn more on MITRE CWE

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2012-6638 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Kernel.org
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v3.x/ChangeLog-3.2.24

Vendor Advisory
Red Hat
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=826702

Issue Tracking Third Party Advisory
Kernel patch commit
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=fdf5af0daf8019cec2396cdef8fb042d80fe71fa
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/fdf5af0daf8019cec2396cdef8fb042d80fe71fa
Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2012-6638

Severity High

CVSS score 7.8 / 10

CVSS version 2.0

Published 2014-02-15

Modified 2026-04-29

KEV No

Patch Awaiting data

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2012-6638?

CVE-2012-6638 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10 , classified as an Uncontrolled Resource Consumption flaw (CWE-400) . CVE-2012-6638 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2012-6638?

CVE-2012-6638 has a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, rated High severity (CVSS 2.0). The vector string is AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2012-6638?

No patch is currently available for CVE-2012-6638. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.
Is CVE-2012-6638 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2012-6638 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.
What is Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400)?

The product does not properly control the amount of resources it consumes, leading to exhaustion. View CWE-400 on MITRE CWE →