What is CVE-2017-12168?

CVE-2017-12168 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 6.0 out of 10. CVE-2017-12168 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2017-12168?

CVE-2017-12168 has a CVSS score of 6.0 out of 10, rated Medium severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2017-12168?

No patch is currently available for CVE-2017-12168. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.

Is CVE-2017-12168 actively exploited?

CVE-2017-12168 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2017-12168

Medium

The access_pmu_evcntr function in arch/arm64/kvm/sys_regs.c in the Linux kernel before 4.8.11 allows privileged KVM guest OS users to cause a denial of service (assertion failure and host OS crash) by accessing the Performance Monitors Cycle Count Register (PMCCNTR).

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2017-09-20

Last modified 2026-05-13

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Awaiting data

CVSS 3.1 score

6.0

out of 10

Medium

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

High

User Interaction

None

Scope

Changed

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Vector string

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

Weakness type

CWE-617

CVE-2017-12168 is classified as CWE-617

See CWE-617 on MITRE CWE for full details on this weakness type.

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2017-12168 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-4.8.11

Release Notes Vendor Advisory
Kernel patch commit
http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=9e3f7a29694049edd728e2400ab57ad7553e5aa9
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1492984
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/9e3f7a29694049edd728e2400ab57ad7553e5aa9
Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2017-12168

Severity Medium

CVSS score 6.0 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2017-09-20

Modified 2026-05-13

KEV No

Patch Awaiting data

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2017-12168?

CVE-2017-12168 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 6.0 out of 10 . CVE-2017-12168 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2017-12168?

CVE-2017-12168 has a CVSS score of 6.0 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2017-12168?

No patch is currently available for CVE-2017-12168. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.
Is CVE-2017-12168 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2017-12168 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.