Threats / Linux / CVE-2014-0196
CVE-2014-0196
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-09-19
Linux Kernel vulnerability
Linux Kernel n_tty_write function contains a race condition allowing local users to cause denial-of-service or privilege escalation through crafted read/write operations.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
A race condition in the Linux Kernel's terminal line discipline handler enables local attackers to trigger system crashes or elevate privileges. The vulnerability requires local access and has been actively exploited in the wild.
CISA KEV Yes · 2023-05-124EPSS 0.22475 (verify live)5Exploit Public PoC6CVSS 5.5 (CISA)3CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Impact: partial3
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreExploit available
Public proof-of-concept exploit code is cataloged for this vulnerability.We link the existence of the exploit; we do not host or redistribute payloads.
Reported exploitation
1 independent public report of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2023-05-12).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.22475 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 5.5 (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H) · Affected: Linux, Kernel. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CISA-assigned via the ADP container (CVE.org), version 3.1; the CNA left no metrics, so CISA's own score is used ahead of NVD.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-362 Race Condition.CWE assignment from the public NVD record (may be stale); the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical Impact: partialCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog 3292 days after the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
WeaknessCWE-362 · Race Condition
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I craft concurrent read and write operations targeting the n_tty_write function to trigger the race condition.
Business
System availability is compromised through denial-of-service conditions or unexpected termination of critical processes.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I exploit the race condition to manipulate kernel memory state and escalate my privileges from unprivileged user to root.
Business
Attacker gains full system control, enabling data theft, malware installation, and lateral movement across infrastructure.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05
Coverage & confidence
— what we know, and what we don’tEstablished (cited)
Coverage gaps — stated, not hidden
Disclosure & credit2
Catalogued by redhatCNA
Credited with finding itNo finder is named in the public CVE record or the scanned vendor advisory — attribution scoped to the sources checked.
Found an error? Propose a correction.
A correction is a cited counter-claim — it must cite a source,
gets reviewed by a second human, and is never auto-applied. See the
correction convention and our identity
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