CVE-2014-7975: Canonical Ubuntu Linux

Medium severity, CVSS 5.5. EPSS: 0.5% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

The do_umount function in fs/namespace.c in the Linux kernel through 3.17 does not require the CAP_SYS_ADMIN capability for do_remount_sb calls that change the root filesystem to read-only, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (loss of writability) by making certain unshare system calls, clearing the / MNT_LOCKED flag, and making an MNT_FORCE umount system call.

Affected products

• Canonical Ubuntu Linux: version 10.04 only; version 12.04 only; version 14.04 only; version 14.10 only
• Linux Linux Kernel: up to and including 3.17

Published 2014-10-13. Last modified 2026-06-17.