What is CVE-2015-8970?

CVE-2015-8970 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, classified as a NULL Pointer Dereference flaw (CWE-476). CVE-2015-8970 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2015-8970?

CVE-2015-8970 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2015-8970?

No patch is currently available for CVE-2015-8970. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.

Is CVE-2015-8970 actively exploited?

CVE-2015-8970 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-2015-8970

Medium

crypto/algif_skcipher.c in the Linux kernel before 4.4.2 does not verify that a setkey operation has been performed on an AF_ALG socket before an accept system call is processed, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and system crash) via a crafted application that does not supply a key, related to the lrw_crypt function in crypto/lrw.c.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2016-11-28

Last modified 2026-05-06

CVSS version 3.0

Patch available

Awaiting data

CVSS 3.0 score

5.5

out of 10

Medium

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Vector string

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness type

CWE-476

CVE-2015-8970 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-2015-8970 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/v4.x/ChangeLog-4.4.2

Release Notes
Openwall
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/11/04/3

Mailing List Third Party Advisory
Securityfocus
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94217

Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
Red Hat
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:1842
Red Hat
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:2077
Red Hat
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:2437
Red Hat
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:2444
Red Hat
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1386286

Issue Tracking
Groups
https://groups.google.com/forum/#%21msg/syzkaller/frb2XrB5aWk/xCXzkIBcDAAJ
Kernel patch commit
http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=dd504589577d8e8e70f51f997ad487a4cb6c026f
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/dd504589577d8e8e70f51f997ad487a4cb6c026f
Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2015-8970

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.0

Published 2016-11-28

Modified 2026-05-06

KEV No

Patch Awaiting data

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2015-8970?

CVE-2015-8970 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 , classified as a NULL Pointer Dereference flaw (CWE-476) . CVE-2015-8970 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2015-8970?

CVE-2015-8970 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.0). The vector string is CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2015-8970?

No patch is currently available for CVE-2015-8970. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.
Is CVE-2015-8970 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2015-8970 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 →