CVE-2004-0427: Linux Kernel

Low severity, CVSS 2.1. EPSS: 0.5% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

The do_fork function in Linux 2.4.x before 2.4.26, and 2.6.x before 2.6.6, does not properly decrement the mm_count counter when an error occurs after the mm_struct for a child process has been activated, which triggers a memory leak that allows local users to cause a denial of service (memory exhaustion) via the clone (CLONE_VM) system call.

Affected products

• Linux Linux Kernel: from 2.4.0, before 2.4.26 (fixed in 2.4.26); from 2.6.0, before 2.6.6 (fixed in 2.6.6)

Published 2004-07-07. Last modified 2026-06-16.